X Y K
by Beauty-Jackson
Summary: Will Lois and Clark ever get back on track,or will Lex Luthor and Wonder Woman get in the way? R&R.
1. Chapter 1

**XYK**

**Disclaimer**:I don't own Smallville. (If I did,someone would have to answer for the character assassination of Chloe !)

**Story:** Drama (elements of:AU /Crossover)

**Characters:**Clark Kent,Lois Lane,Chloe Sullivan,Pete Ross,Lana Lang,Lex Luthor,Diana 'Wonder Woman' Prince.

**chapter 1**. 'Bad News'

" …Wait, I don't understand, what are you saying,Doc?" Lois asked her face a picture of worried puzzlement.

"I'm saying there is a 97.8% that you won't carry this baby to term." Doctor Swann adjusted his glasses.

"But there's a 2.2% that I could."Lois reasoned.

"I think we all know that that's a shockingly low percentage Ms. Lane."

Clark held Lois's hand tighter ,and for the first time in a long time he was hesitant, almost scared to read what she was thinking.

"So, what do we do Doctor Swann?"Clark asked turning his attention away from his fiancée.

Doctor Swann sighed a heavy sigh. "I only foresee one option. A termination.."

"I WON'T DO IT!" Lois interjected before the doctor had a chance to finish his sentence.

"Calm down, Lo." Clark reached for Lois's hand. " Doctor, surely that can't be the only solution." Clark felt a sudden sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach ,he knew he wasn't going to be able to fix this.

"Believe me Clark, my team and I have explored every possible avenue since we got the news ."

Lois shook her head slowly, she couldn't believe it. An hour ago she and Clark had been so happy, chatting, making plans for their future ,for their babys' future.

"Lois, Your body simply isn't strong enough to gestate a kryptonian baby. Your foetus will produce enzymes that would allow it to plant itself in varied types of tissue, to increase it's nutrient supply it would have to implant itself it several key passages. Thus creating great tissue damage to ascertain sufficient nutrient supply."

"I hear what you're saying but there is a small chance I could carry this baby to term."Lois bit her lip to suppress the panic she could feel rising to the surface.

"Carrying this baby to term, if by some stroke of luck were possible, would do your body serious damage. Your body is simply not strong enough and wouldn't provide not only the right nutrients, but it wouldn't supply enough."Doctor Swann took a sip of water, he hated delivering bad news "In effect, as the baby got bigger and stronger, you would get weaker and weaker."

"There must be something we can do,..supplements I could take, bed rest…"Lois's frustration was mounting, she could feel tears and a migraine coming on.

"Clark,Lois.I don't mean to be blunt but Lois your life would be at serious risk."

Lois shook her head "You have walls covered in diplomas for things most people can't pronounce let alone comprehend, and you're seriously telling me you can't help us have this baby?"

"Lois, Clark. I so wanted to deliver happy news to you. I can't even begin to understand the depth of despair but what I'm telling you comes from extensive research and..."

"I want a second opinion."Lois cut him off coldly, she picked up her bag , "Clark, I'll be in the car."

Lois got up straightened her pencil skirt and picked up her bag, she walked briskly to the door and shut it carefully behind her. She put her shoulders back and held her head high as she walked past the receptionist, and only when she was past and certain that there were no prying eyes did she breakout into a run to the safety of her car. Once she had sought refuge and was safely inside ,she begin to sob, loud heartfelt sobs that shook her core as she touched her still flat stomach.

Unbeknownst to her, the privacy of her car would be the place she did all her crying in the oncoming months.

------------------------

"I'm truly sorry Clark." Dr Swann said. "I knew you and Lois were excited about this baby, but I had no choice but to tell you the reality of the situation."

Clark nodded silently, a heavy pain in his chest. "I know you've done all you can."

"You have to talk to her Clark, make her see reason."

The ride home was fraught and a heavy silence filled the air. Lois who had once sworn that she couldn't stand to be in a car without the radio on just didn't have the heart to touch the dial.

Clark was first to break the silence, with his eyes on the road in front of them ,he said "Lo,talk to me."

"There's nothing to say. I want a second opinion."She said curtly, refusing to look at him, instead she sat back and watched the scenery.

"Doctor Swann, knows what he's talking about."

"But I know my body, and I know I can carry this baby."

"But-"

"OMIGOD, You don't trust me?"

"Of Course I do."

"…Yet you look to that charlatan for truths!"

"That's not fair Lois. I wanted this baby too."

"Wanted? So you don't anymore?"

"Not if it means I lose you!"

Lois gasped, her anger elevating "You want me to get rid of OUR child?"

"That's not what I meant, and you know it!"

Lois shook her head defiantly "I can't talk to you!" And just like that Lois closed herself off. She wouldn't talk or meet Clark's sad eyes with her own.

TBC.


	2. Chapter 2

**XYK**

**Chapter 2**. 'Two's company'

Lois shut the oven door with her elbow and put the Roast chicken on the work top. She appraised her work "Not bad. Not bad."

Out of nowhere Lois could feel the bile rising in her throat, along with the pounding in a her head. She grabbed the work top to steady herself and closed her eyes.

"You ok?" Clark asked coming out of their bedroom buttoning up his black shirt

"Just morning..." Lois pressed a bag of frozen peas to her cranium "...afternoon and evening sickness, nothing I can't cope with.."

Clark made a move to come closer ,but Lois quickly raised her hand "I'm fine, Clark. Really, I'm fine."

Of course they both knew that wasn't completely true ,it had been almost two months since they'd received the news from . Almost two months since they'd had a conversation that didn't end in shouting or tears, and almost two months since they'd been able to sit in the same room together without the atmosphere being burdened with their opposing feelings. Too bad they were hosting a dinner party tonight, Lois would have cancelled it but it had been planned for the last four months.

The door bell rang, Lois quickly took off her apron and straightened her black dress. Clark stepped aside to let her pass. She flung open the door and squealed as did Lana who was holding a squirming chubby toddler. Lana grabbed Lois with her free arm and the two women embraced. Pete who was left with the stroller came in second, the two men's eyes met as they shook their heads with a smirk and a look that could only mean "Women!".

Once the women had embraced ,Pete handed Lois a bundle of Tulips, "Thank You ,Senator Ross." She said as she kissed him on each cheek.

Lana tip toed to Peck Clark on the cheek "Lovely to see you Superman." She whispered.

Clark smiled " Same here, Mrs Ross." Clark gently took his godchild out of Lana's arms and gently tickled him "And how's CJ today?".The baby giggled with delight.

"Trouble as usual."Lana said with a smile "But he'll fall asleep in a little while."

Lois took the coats and hung them up, but turned just in time to catch Clark play with Pete and Lana's gorgeous little boy, something inside her broke. She could feel the tears forming and the lump at the back of her throat "I'm just gonna go freshen up, Clark get everybody a drink." She quickly made her way to the bathroom and locked the door.

Seeing Clark coax and mollycoddle that little boy made her more certain than ever that they could achieve that. She mopped up her tears with a piece of tissue and with shaking hands reapplied her silently cursed her hormones,never before had she cried so much. She took a few deep breaths and slowly opened the door.

The three friends were in what appeared to be a deep conversation about politics.

"What we need is a new referendum."Pete was saying.

Clark still had CJ in his arms and was rocking him gently, as the little boy appeared to be falling asleep. Lana was sipping from a glass of red wine "Oh yeah, like that'll happen."

Pete turned to Clark "Have you met my wife, the eternal optimist?"

All three laughed, although Clark stopped as soon as he noticed Lois. He could tell she'd been crying. She immediately looked away and busied herself in the kitchen.

Once dinner was served and CJ was asleep on their bed, the conversation and laughter flowed easily. Lois had never had much of a family, for the most part it had been just her and the General with Lucy away at boarding school, with of course the occasional Christmas spent with her Uncle Gabe and Chloe, but since they'd moved around so much she'd never really made any lasting friendships, until she'd met Lana and Pete, they had accepted her unreservedly and without question. They weren't just Clark's friends, they were hers as well.

"...So, I said "well, this IS Washington DC." Pete chuckled.

Everybody laughed. "That can't be true." Lois dabbed at her mouth with a napkin.

"Believe me, we've met some characters out there." Lana verified her husband's hilarious anecdote.

Lois picked up the wine bottle and topped up her guests before pouring herself a glass.

"Do you think that's wise?" Clark asked from across the table. The intensity of his voice made Lana and Pete pause.

"It's only one glass of wine, Clark."Lois said. "Not even a full glass, just a sip. See.", She held up the glass in an exaggerated manner.

And just like that the atmosphere was back to what it had been for the last couple of months. Lana looked at Pete, Pete looked at Lana and shrugged.A shrug that wasn't completely lost on Lois.

"I'm pregnant."She blurted out by way of explanation.

"Oh."Pete said.

"Congratulations?" Lana asked ,trying to comprehend the atmosphere that was anything but joyous.

"You would think so,wouldn't you?But not according to my husband here." Lois said forcefully putting the glass down.

"It's not like that and you know it." Clark put his fork down and glared at his wife.

"Then why are you being like this?Why can't we just enjoy it,like other couples?" Lois stood up and and placed her hands on her hips.

"Because we're not like other couples!" Clark roared.

Lois and Pete of them had ever heard Clark raise his voice.

"You don't say,Superman!" Lois picked up Pete and Lana's plates "...I've never doubted or questioned you,I've always supported you and you can't do the same for me." She stomped towards the kitchen,Clark followed having seemingly forgotten about the guests they were meant to be entertaining.

"You think I don't see what this pregnancy is already doing to you,how ill you're getting.."Clark crossed his arms.

Lois practically threw down the plates in the sink "It's just pregnancy sickness..."

Clark shook his head "I thought Lois Lane always dealt in harsh realities,but when you do denial you do it are you going to start being honest with yourself?"

Lois stood in front of her husband,close enough to feel his breath on her face and hers on his "Why would I do that,when you're honest enough for the both of us!"

"Maybe we should go."Whispered Lana to Pete from across the table where they were still seated.

Pete got up and headed to the kitchen "Guys! Maybe we should go,we'll call you."

Clark and Lois stopped arguing.

"No!" Lois feigned a smile and picked up what appeared to be a fruit tart. "No,don't haven't even had dessert yet!" Before she could gage anybodys reaction,Lois quickly went sailing into the dining two men slowly followed.

Lois began to slice the tart.

"So when are you due?"Lana immediately bit her tongue,she really hadn't meant to bring up the issue that seemed to result in their arguments.

"December." Lois said picking up a plate and placing tart on it,she handed it to Lana.

Clark sat down,teeth still clenched "Lois probably forgot to tell you that there's only a 2% chance that our baby..." he took a deep breath "will make it."

"I'm just so sick of your pessimism!"Lois yelled as she threw the remainder of the tart to the floor in anger "Just go, GO!"

Clark clenched his teeth "Fine." He picked up his coat and flung the door open but didn't look back,instead he slammed the door shut .

The whole apartment shook, forcing Pete to grab hold of the wall,and Lana to quickly grab a vase which seemed set to topple to the ground from the effects of the mini earthquake.

"Go after him",Lana mouthed to her husband.

"I'm already on it." Pete picked up his coat and raced straight out of the door.

Lois slumped to the floor in tears and gently helped pick her friend up,she reached for a napkin and dabbed at Lois's tears. "Well,you two certainly know how to throw a dinner party."


	3. Chapter 3

**XYK**

**Chapter 3**. 'Wife isn't just a four letter word.'

Pete didn't need help in locating his friend, all he had to do was follow the carnage, upturned cars, scattered garbage bins, bent lampposts and the worst kind of anguished cry he had ever heard. It took him about twenty minutes to reach the hill that overlooked the city of Metropolis, and there on a huge rock sat Clark. His eyes never wavering from the horizon "I'm scared Pete.", Clark said, sensing his friends presence ,but didn't turn to face him.

Those three little words completely threw Pete, he had never know Clark to be scared. Never known Clark to lose his composure. He was the original man of steel, nothing fazed him, he was always so optimistic, so certain. "I'm sorry you and Lana had to hear all that."

Pete shook his head "Don't worry about it, man."

"It's not that I don't want this baby, I do. I do..." Clark exhaled a laboured breath "More than I've ever wanted anything in my life .But I can't..."His voice trailed off.

Pete went and sat by his friend. They sat there in a companionable silence for what seemed like forever, Clark resisting the urge to break something and Pete resisting the urge to tell another inappropriate anecdote to ease the tension. But now was his time to be there for his friend, so he decided to speak.

"You know when Lana got pregnant with CJ I was petrified." Pete rubbed his cold hands together "I mean ,you know about the two miscarriages."

Clark looked at his friend "yeah."

"Losing those two babies was brutal..."

Clark nodded, he could remember.

"...and If I'm honest, really honest... I was fresh out of faith. I didn't think it would ever happen for us."Pete waited a moment, hoping his friend would be drawn into the conversation.

Clark kept his eyes on the Metropolis horizon, still refusing to give more than a few monosyllabic grunts.

"I didn't want to get emotionally invested in something that might not happen. In something I was so sure **wouldn't** happen."

Pete's last sentence seemed to connect to something within Clark, so he kept on talking. "But Lana, she carried us...she had faith enough for the both of us. She proved me wrong."

-----------------------------

Lana plugged in the vacuum cleaner and began to tidy up the pieces of tart ,spread out against Lois and Clarks beige carpet.

"You don't have to do that y'know." Lois said in between sniffles.

Lana smiled "I want to. You just lean back and drink your tea.".She began to vacuum, and once she'd finished, pleased with her handy work, she sat next to Lois on the couch.

"He's scared. But he's a man so of course he can't just say 'Lois, I'm scared'." Lois shook her head.

"I know." Lana agreed.

"And he's supposed to be the strongest of them all, so he doesn't know how to be vulnerable."

"Pete was exactly the same way. I mean the circumstance were slightly different, but you have to remember that it's only because he loves you so much. **Both** of you so much."

Lois looked down at her stomach and placed a protective arm over it.

---------------------------

Both the men dusted themselves off and set off home. "Y'know wife isn't just a four letter word. Don't lose sight of each other, you're a team" Pete said. "The next couple of months are going to be rough. Put your energy where it needs to be..."

"I know."Clark replied. He stopped walking "I think I'll patrol awhile, see what's happening on the West Coast, see if there's anything Superman can actually fix."

"What do I tell Lois?" Pete asked as they neared Clarks' block.

"Tell her, I'll see her soon." And with one powerful lunge upwards Clark was propelled upwards in a gust of wind and dust so strong that Pete was thrown backwards by the sheer force. He watched his friend disappear into the evening sky.

By the time Pete had come back, everything had been completely cleared away and a calmness enveloped the two women as they sat chatting in hushed tones.

"Where's Clark?"Lois asked

"He just needs some time, he'll be back soon."

Lois frowned but she understood. Space would do both of them good. Pete went to collect CJ from Clark and Lois's room.

"You'll be OK?" Lana asked gently putting a sleeping CJ into his stroller. "We can stay if you'd like."

"No, I'm fine." She hugged her friends goodbye. "I'm gonna go straight to bed."

"If there's anything you need, we're only a phone call away."Pete said.

Lois closed the door quietly behind them, then went to switch off the lamps, she was beginning to feel dizzy.

Just as she reached for the last lamp she was incapacitated by the shooting pains in her belly, The sensation forced her to drop to her knees, and bite her lip, it was only then that she realised her nose was bleeding, wiping away the blood with her shaking hand she tried to crawl across the apartment towards the phone, so intense was the pain that Lois passed completely out.

TBC.


	4. Chapter 4

**XYK**

**Chapter 4** 'Towards the light'

"She's coming round!"

Lois slowly opened her eyes to be met with the glare of sterile white surroundings, the light so acute, she had to close her eyes.

She felt warm hands gently stroke her face "_Clark_." She muttered.

"I'm here honey."He breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm right here."

Clark spotted the worry on her face, the way her face conveyed what she wasn't able to say. He filled in the blanks. "I found you passed out on the living room floor. We're at Dr Swann's labs."

Slowly Lois attempted to open her eyes again; she was able to squint until her eyes slowly became accustomed to the bright light. "Wate-r." She looked out at her arms,covered in IV's that were hooked up to drips.

Clark picked up the jug next to her bedside and poured the contents into a glass; he gently boosted her up, supported her head and gently fed her sips.

"Better?" Clark asked, simply using his thumb to wipe away moisture from her chin. All Lois could do was nod. Disorientated and weak she closed her eyes and fell back into a slumber.

Three hours later Lois came around again, this time she was greeted by three people. Clark, Dr. Swann and A pretty middle aged African American lady with thick black glasses and white lab coat.

"Hello Lois." The lady spoke first. "I'm Dr. Leticia Fox. Allow me to tell you a little bit about myself..." The lady stepped closer. "I hold a Medical degree from John Hopkins University for Obstetrician Gynaecology, which I practiced for five years, before receiving a Masters in Biological cybernetics from MIT before receiving my PHD from the Harvard school of applied sciences and biological engineering as well as being a member of the VERITAS Society, where I have spear headed research in Satellite communication with biological morphology in extraterrestrial life. I trust you're familiar with our work."

Lois looked first at Clark and then at Dr. Leticia Fox and nodded.

"That's just my colleagues fancy way of saying she studies the cell theory, evolution, gene theory, energy and homeostasis of extraterrestrials." Added Dr Swann.

"Exactly."Dr. Fox gave Dr. Swann a small smile.

The room suddenly went eerily silent. Lois felt a sinking in her stomach, she didn't know what was coming but it didn't sound good. As if by telekinesis Clark took his hand in hers. Lois looked up at her husband, she could see the sadness on his face and she braced herself.

"We tried everything we possibly could, but unfortunately your foetus could not be saved."

Lois inhaled as if she'd just been punched in the gut, her instinctive reaction was to release Clarks hand and place it over her stomach. ''I don't under—stand..."

Clark held his wife a little closer, he'd had six hours to get used to the news, but hearing it again felt like a loaded blow.

Silent tears slowly flowed down Lois cheeks, she couldn't move or think. It had to be a bad dream.

"We believe the reason to be Chromosomal malformation, which ultimately led to a chorionic miscarriage." Continued Dr Fox .

"There was nothing anybody could have done." Added Dr Swann in a sombre tone.

"If you have any questions..." began Dr Fox ,who was cut off by the sound of Lois's crying that had slowly become a muted wail.

Clark grabbed her to him,and gently rubbed her back "I'm so sorry,baby."he repeated over and over again.

But Lois couldn't hear any of it,all she could hear was the sound of her heart breaking into a million little pieces and the greatest pain she'd ever know.

"We are truly sorry for your loss." Dr Fox reiterated.

TBC.


	5. Chapter 5

**XYK**

**Chapter 5** "Ice"

It had been two long weeks since Lois and Clark's loss. Lois had finally persuaded Clark to go back to work; he had been working her last nerve by checking on her every five minutes, constantly asking whether she needed anything. Perry had given her leave on compassionate grounds and right now she was nowhere ready to go back to work and report the news.

It had been the afternoon and Lois had decided to get some air, she couldn't spend another afternoon staring into space or even worse staring at the numerous cards and flower arrangements sent by concerned friends and colleagues. So, she just got in her car and drove, she drove round in circles mostly, just revelling in the mindless monotony of driving and before she knew it, it was dark outside. She parked her car and looked around, she was no longer close to home, but from her surroundings she guessed that she was now down town, she rested her head against the steering wheel plotting her next move. Someone knocked on her window forcing her to jump.

She looked up clutching her hand to her racing heart. It was a skinny, pale skinned ginger haired guy. Lois wound her window down."Yes?"

"Lady, club promotion; Show this card at the bar and you get 15% off all drinks."He said handing her a small piece of card. Once she'd taken it, he strolled off, ready to approach a group of young people coming towards him.

"CLUB ICE."The shiny black card with silver embossed letters read. Just what she needed, a good stiff drink.

Walking into the club she had spotted him almost immediately even though it had been more than 10 years since they'd last spoken, he was looking insanely attractive in a bespoke suit that probably cost more than most people's quarterly wage. If she was going to have fun then he was probably the person to do it with, but she didn't want fun...no, she just wanted to drown her sorrows. Naturally Alexander Luther was surrounded by a bevy of beauties none of whom could keep his attention.

Lois kept her head low as she made her way to the bar and purchased a double malt whisky on the rocks. She downed it in one go, greedily. She immediately raised her hand to signal the barista, when a pretty oriental girl gently prodded her on the shoulder "Miss, this is from the gentleman in the expensive blue suit." The waitress winked and placed the cocktail in front of Lois .Lois didn't need to turn to see the gentleman the waitress had been referring too. She'd been spotted.

"A 'screaming Orgasm'. how original." Lois smirked to herself. The memories and the connotations of the drink came flooding back. Lois raised the glass to her mouth and took a sip

"If it isn't Lois Lane." Said a masculine voice from behind her.

Lois swivelled round on her seat. "Lex Luther."

The handsome bald headed man smirked, picked up her hand and placed a gentle kiss on it.

"Still the same old Lex,huh?"Lois arched her eyebrow sceptically and took another sip of the cocktail.

"You know me Lane,old dog,new tricks." Lex held out his hand "Join me, I have a private booth in the VIP section." It wasn't a request but a demand, Lex Luther was much too used to getting his own way.

"No." Was all Lois could think of to say, she really wasn't in the mood.

Lex leant in conspiratorially "We used to have a lot of fun together, you and I."

Lois almost smiled at the memory. The summer she graduated from Met U, she had met Alexander Luther and they'd spent the entire summer as Lovers. Never before had the young Lois Lane been wined, dined and seduced in such a refined manner, for a girl raised on army bases for most of her life ,it had been a pleasant awakening and introduction to womanhood.

"Well, I learn my lessons the hard way."Lois held up her right hand and wiggled the fingers, displaying the wedding ring "Besides, I just came for the drinks."

"Well,take my business card. It would be lovely to catch up."

Lex handed her an expensive golden business card.

"Catch up?" Lois nearly snorted, experience had taught her to have reservations about Lex's intentions; hesitantly she took the card and haphazardly threw it into her purse, not giving it another thought.

Although she refused to join him in the VIP area, the old acquaintances exchanged playful banter, witty put downs and a few more rounds of drinks. It had been good to forget the pain and immerse herself in an old persona.

Finally Lois got up to leave, Lex quickly backed her into the corner and kissed her. He had completely taken her by surprise; she never saw it coming and didn't have time to put up her defences. A struggle seemed somewhat futile, immobilised by her slight tipsiness and emotional disposition, she let the kiss play out.

Once Lex had let her go, Lois was enraged, her eyes blazing and her body slightly shaking with the sheer audacity of the man. She raised her hand and in one fell swoop slapped him hard across his face. Then she immediately picked up her purse and turned on her heels not once looking back.

"'Attagirl," He said rubbing his stinging cheek as he watched her march off. Something told him they'd have another encounter and Lex couldn't wait.

TBC.


	6. Chapter 6

**XYK**

**Chapter 6.** ' Mess'.

Clark looked at the bedside Clock.04:15am Tuesday morning. He hadn't seen Lois since yesterday lunchtime. It had been two weeks since they'd lost the baby and he knew she wasn't taking it well at all.

The front door slammed. Clark could hear Lois bumping into furniture and cursing, the bedroom door opening and in she toddled, high heels in hand and completely inebriated.

"Hi baby.."She slurred, saddling up to Clark who put on the bedside lamp.

"Where have you been Lois ?I've been out searching all night."

Lois laughed "Awww, you love me. Gi'mme a kissssssss." She leant over to Clark.

"You're drunk,Lo."

"Just a little bit."She laughed rocking from side to side. "Kiss me."

Although Clark didn't comply, he didn't move away when she grabbed his head and voraciously sucked his lips. Lois dropped her expensive heels and mounted Clark. "I missed you."

"I bet" He said dryly.

"Don't be like that. Make love to me."

Clark looked her in the eyes with a sort of bemusement, It would have been funny had he not known the reasons behind her behaviour. "You're drunk, Lois. What you need is sleep."

"No."

Clark arched his eyebrow "No?"

Lois took this as her cue to lay butterfly kisses on his neck ".Please."She whispered mantra style. Even in all her drunken glory Lois Lane knew how to get past his defences.

"Wait, let me just get some protection."

Lois stopped "Protection? You're my husband ,when have we ever needed that.."

"You know what the Doctors said, We can't risk.." Clark stopped himself.

Lois stopped cold and finished the sentence "..Getting me pregnant." She dismounted Clark,the moment was officially dead.

"FYI Clark,I went back on contraception after the operation…"She spat as she picked up her shoes,purse and keys "…but hey,if my husband doesn't want to make love to me, then I'm sure I can find somebody else to accommodate.."She slurred.

Clark got up off the bed. He grabbed her arm "You're not going anywhere in that state."

"You're not my father Clark, let go!" She violently tried to reclaim her arm.

The last five minutes of hysteria had imbued her with artificial energy. Now, it drained from her. Her body began to shudder convulsively, her legs buckled beneath her. Worst of all the room began spinning with a vengeance.

She couldn't make it to the bathroom on time. As Clark shot out a hand to steady her and take her weight, she was violently, spectacularly sick, all over his plaid shirt.

He didn't even flinch but picked her up as if she were a child and carried her to the bathroom, propped her up against the wash basin, and ran the taps whilst she retched and heaved, convinced that she was in the throes of death, When the spasms had ceased she let him gently wipe her face with a warm, wet flannel. To her aching head and tired soul it felt like bliss. Her head started to hammer and she wincingly opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was his shirt. Following her eyes and seeing her distress he immediately took of the shirt and threw it into the bathtub.

"Better now?" He said rubbing her back and craddling her in his arms, she could only nod.

"Turn around, baby "he commanded, and slowly unzipped her dress. "Clean your teeth, then I'll come put you to bed."

He stood her up at the basin and handed her, her toothbrush. He went to the kitchen and filled a cup and grabbed two Ibuprofen.

He entered the bedroom and handed her the glass of water and pain killers."Drink it all or you'll be dehydrated."He sat besides her watching her swallow."Good girl",he remarked approvingly once she handed him the empty glass "Now go to sleep."He pulled the covers up around her and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead, as he leant over and turned out the bedside light,he turned to leave the room but Lois quickly grabbed his hand.

"I'm sorry." She said in a little voice.

Clark stopped and sat on the bed. "Don't be. "he gently kissed away one of her silent tears with his lips, and shuffled into a lying position next to her. Lois took this as her cue to rest her head on his chest.

"I'm a big old mess right now, but I Just needed to forget." She said.

Clark rubbed her back, glad in the knowledge that she was home and safe in his arms.

"I just wanted the baby. I wanted it so much."She said with a sad whimper.

Clark suppressed the tumultuous feeling in his stomach "I know,Honey.I know."

As seconds turned to minutes and minutes into an hour, when he was sure Lois was all cried out and had slithered into sleep. He silently got up and went to the kitchen, where he sat in complete darkness, and cried. He cried for Lois, he cried for himself but most of all he cried for the baby that they had lost.

TBC.


	7. Chapter 7

**XYK**

**Chapter 7- **"Spoons"

"We go for counselling" Clark said placing some Alka seltzer in front of his wife. "...emergency counselling. I think we need this..." Clark straightened his tie. " I know you don't really want to go, but now we have to. If we want to get back to normal then we have to be willing to do anything."

"Sure. Anything."Lois said, barely making eye contact. Her head was pounding and she felt ready to vomit,she rested her throbbing forehead on her knees.

"Doctor Swann said he could recommend a few psychologists within VERITAS who would be discreet. What do you think?" He put on his glasses.

Lois tucked her feet underneath her "Whatever you think."

Clark smiled and kissed her on the forehead before he left for work.

A week later Clark turned up for their first official counselling session. They'd been sleeping in the same bed, carried on going through the motions of normal life, found a counsellor and made an appointment. He sat there,in the waiting room for almost an hour before he realised Lois lane was most certainly not coming. He paid the counsellor for her time and rang Lois but got no reply. Not at the apartment, not at work and not on her mobile phone. He was scared, as he rushed home, that she'd been hurt. After all she was in a weird head space right now, drinking more and growing more despondent by the day.

He was right to be scared. She was hurt,or hurting..which had become one and the same these days.

She was lying on the sofa when he got in.

Her slender form was stretched out, her eyes half closed, staring at the direction of the TV but probably taking very little in. He shook his head but reached down to kiss her and paused as the whiff of alcohol hit him.

Clark dropped a kiss on her forehead and she smiled a languid, dreamy smile "Hey Superman."She said. Her voice was drowsy with alcohol and sleep. But as per usual Clark decided to put more emphasis on the sleep, he so wanted to believe that she'd forgotten about their appointment or she'd simply fallen asleep waiting for him . "I thought you were never coming home."Lois said still stretched out, eyes still closed.

"Where else would I go?"he asked. There was a time when his answer to that question would have been "There's nowhere else I'd rather be." That wasn't true anymore. He sighed. Recently he'd found himself patrolling more, flying further and further afield, even spending hours sitting in the fortress of solitude.

In the kitchen,he hated himself for doing this,but he automatically went to the large garbage can and using his laser vision took inventory.2 bottles of cheap wine had been demolished , and a can of unfinished beer sat on the table. He was prepared to ignore the fact that it was only 4 in the afternoon, yet Lois was zonked out in a drunken stupor and he was going to ignore the fact that there was hardly any alcohol left in the house, which was probably a good thing anyway. He was in no rush to replace it,so instead he picked Lois up and took her to bed.

Later that evening in bed, they lay on opposite sides. He wasn't sure when it started to happen but they'd stopped sleeping spooned together, getting comfort from the warmth of each other's bodies. Now they were like strangers,well.. friendly strangers who knew each other well enough to share a bed but not well enough to actually touch . Now there was nothing but distance. They hadn't made love in months, not since before they'd lost the baby.

Clark lay in the dark listening to Lois lightly snoring, thinking around the problem .In the dark he slowly retraced the steps of his getting to know Lois. It hadn't been easy to woo her, she wasn't the easiest person to get to know, he could remember being enchanted by this tough talking, seemingly fearless reporter who had so little time for sentimentality. He'd wanted to knock all her psychological walls down,all the walls that had stopped him getting to know her,but here in the dark he couldn't help but feel that those walls had never truly been demolished.

Clark closed his eyes, tomorrow would be better he reassured himself. He'd come home early and relax. Take time off like Perry had offered and talk to Lois, really talk to her. Force her to share her feelings about the miscarriage.

Hopefully they'd do something about her problem. Their problem. Because he was in it as well. It was their problem. For better or worse,he'd promised . And whilst things could be a exponentially worse, they had been residing in the 'nowhere near good' area for too long. But could things change? "It'll work itself out" he told himself."It will be alright."

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

**XYK**

**Chapter 8** – "Warm Fuzzies."

Lois blocked out the sound of Clarks incessant droning and looked at the lamp on a ledge in the corner of the room. It sparkled as the late afternoon light hit it. The sun strained through the stained glass and Lois allowed herself to be hypnotised by the kaleidoscope of colours dancing across the wall.

"Lois!"Clark snapped, waking her out of her reverie. "You're not even listening anymore."

Lois sighed and turned her attention back to her husband. Talking about her feelings was the last thing she wanted to be doing. Lois wasn't raised like Clark, in a family where they actually talked about their feelings and shared warm fuzzies and hugs. No, Lois Lane was a military brat. She was more accustomed to internalizing everything and preparing for battle, "Of course I'm listening."

"Talk to me."Clark sat down on the sofa next to Lois. "Tell me what's on your mind."He gently picked up her hand and entwined his fingers with her smaller feminine ones.

"Nothing's on my mind." Lois untangled their fingers and stood up "I'm fine Clark. I'M FINE."

"No you're not."

"Oh,but I am."Lois stomped towards the kitchen .Clark didn't need to follow her or use his ex-ray vision to know the sound of banging cupboards and shifting pots and pans, was Lois rummaging around for a stiff drink."I could have sworn I had some Beer here." He heard her mutter to herself.

Clark got up and stood in the door way of the Kitchen. "You drank most of it, and what you didn't drink got thrown away."

"Why!?Why would you do that?" Lois banged her hands down on the kitchen counter, in unadulterated frustration. "God, I'm so sick of you.."

"Sick of me?" Clark couldn't hide his building anger "You don't get to be the angry one Lois; I'm trying my best to fix us."

"Fix us? Fix me, you mean...."Lois barged past Clark ,sailed through the Living room and into their bedroom. Again, he heard the pulling and slamming of drawers and wardrobes.

By the time he reached the Bedroom, in Lois's hand lay a small bottle of _Absolut Vodka._ Clark silently cursed,he had honestly believed that he'd gotten rid of all the alcohol in the apartment. Lois smiled victoriously.

"A Secret stash.."Clark shook his head in mild disgust.

"I just had a mis-carriage. Excuse me if I feel like crap for a while." Lois stood up amongst the scattered clothes and socks she'd pulled out to get to the alcoholic prize . The Look Clark was giving her was enough to pacify the craving she had for the poison that would dull her pain."If you had lost the baby you would understand!" was all she could say.

Clark froze flabbergasted. Slowly he shifted his gaze from the bottle of Vodka to meet Lois's and with heartbreaking clarity he said, "But,I did lose the baby...".

Clark picked up his car keys,and headed straight for the front door . He hadn't intended to go to The Planet today, but for the first time in forever he didn't trust himself to be around his wife.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

**XYK **

**Chapter 9 - **"In Outer Space."

"_Buona Mattina mia bella sorella!"_ Lucy said, practically flinging herself at Lois. Lois, who was completely unprepared, dropped her suitcases and stumbled backwards. Lois looked around, Models everywhere. She smiled up at Lucy who in stiletto heels and outlandish hairstyle towered over her.

Lucy had been spotted, at the age of 16, by an agent whilst visiting Lois from Boarding school. The Metropolis based agent had declared Lucy the next big thing, within months Lucy or '_Lucille_' as she now went by, had graced the catwalks and covers of magazines on every continent. "I can't believe you're here in Italy!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Well, it's been a while since I've seen you on the catwalk."

"Are you OK? I mean you look..."Lucy stepped back and appraised her sister "...ill,like you've lost weight."

Lois hadn't told Lucy about the pregnancy or the miscarriage, and she was glad. She couldn't bear the idea of being fussed over or pitied. She'd flown thousands of miles to escape that and intended to relax, not forget, but heal. She was fed up of feeling sad, something had to change. "I'm fine,really.",Lois lied. "Work stress..."

"Well, where's Clark?" Lucy asked ,looking over her sisters shoulder.

Lois's guts dropped. "He couldn't make it. He sends his love." The truth of the matter was that Clark hadn't been invited. The moment Clark had left the apartment, Lois had cried, the Vodka bottle untouched at her side. After half an hour, a light bulb moment had struck her, she had wiped her tears and began throwing things into a couple of Suitcases. She'd quickly scribbled a note to Clark and then She'd driven to the airport. The ticket had been damn near extortionate but she had taken it, and here she was standing before her little sister.

A brunette toting a clipboard came up behind Lucy "_Lucille_ you're on in 2."

"Thanks."Lucy mouthed to the woman; she straightened out her expensive gown and turned back around to face Lois. "We'll have dinner after the show. Wait right here."

"Sure."Lois smiled as Lucy went to join the other models at the catwalk entrance.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sitting in a quiet Corner of the upmarket Italian Bistro, Lucy and Lois exchanged giggles .It was at this point that Lucy picked up the bottle of red wine that sat between them and made a lunge as if to pour Lois a cup. Lois quickly covered the glass with her hand. "None for me."

"You love red wine."Lucy persisted "Ok..just have half a glass, it's gorgeous."Lucy reached for Lois's glass again.

"I said NO!" Lois screeched ,causing a few diners in close proximity to turn around.

Lucy was puzzled, she pulled a face "O-k."

Lois immediately felt bad, she hadn't meant to shout at Lucy "I'm giving up alcohol."

"Any particular reason?"Lucy asked, forking some pasta into her mouth.

"It's bad for me." Lois shrugged, sat back and watched Lucy tuck into the huge plate of spaghetti "...Luce, don't you have another show tomorrow. Are you sure you wanna eat all those Carbs?"Lois asked playfully.

"Shut up!" Lucy slapped her sisters' hand playfully from across the table. "I'm just gonna go to the bathroom." Lucy got up and weaved past other diners until she was out of sight . Lois took this as her cue to tuck into her own plate of Veal and roasted vegetables . So busy devouring the meal laid out before her,she didn't notice the man confidently approaching her.

Standing over where she was seated in the corner, Lex Luthor cleared his throat with a _faux_-cough to get her attention. Lois looked up and immediately wanted to unleash a thunderous verbal attack, but settled for, "Anyone would think you were stalking me."

"Don't flatter yourself, Lane." Lex pulled back the opposing seat recently vacated by Lucy and sat down. "It's Milan Fashion week." Was all he added by way of explanation.

Lois mentally kicked herself for making an assumption. She'd forgotten that Fashion week attracted the rich, famous and always ostentatious from all over the world. Lex Luther's presence in Italy made complete sense.

"I'm of the opinion that Journalism isn't a real vocation with you, Lane."He began.

Lois took another bite of her food, "I don't care for your opinion."

"I'm offering you a job Lois."

"I have one."

Lex couldn't help but smile, even when she was stuffing her mouth, Lois Lane was still a firecracker.

"I want you to come and work for me. I want you to be the Editor in Chief of my new magazine."

Lex weighed up the incredulous look on Lois's face. He liked that she wasn't an easy sell. He pressed on, "I'm talking a premium glossy magazine, aimed at upwardly mobile, borderline affluent thirty something women who are full of drive, sexy and living life on their own terms. A lot like you."

"Cosmo,Marie Claire,VOGUE,Glamour...glossy magazines have been done to death." Lois took a sip from a glass of water.

"Those things are aimed at Teenyboppers, anorexics and celebrity obsessed sycophants. I want your savvy know how. You're smart , tough, sexy and incredibly stylish. I want to see a magazine that doesn't undermine a woman's intelligence, a magazine that truly celebrates the correlation between femininity, strength and intelligence."

"I never had you down as a feminist." Lois smirked.

"No one appreciates women more than I do." Lex leant forward, fostering a sense of intimacy between the two of them "I'm talking six figures. Your own office, staff and vision."

Lois could hardly believe her ears. "I'm sorry!I don't understand...Why would you..???"

"Because you look like you could do with a change in your life."

Lois shivered. It was something about the way he said that, as if he could read her mind . Lois looked down,completely unsure of what to say. The old Lois would of told him where to go but the old Lois didn't exist,she had been inextricably altered ,and maybe just maybe Lex Luthor was offering her a lifeline. "I'm sorry I slapped you the other night, but you completely over stepped the boundaries. You had it coming and I'd do it again."

Lex didn't say a word, instead he looked bemused.

"...I like you Lex, but If I am to consider your proposition I need to feel like I can trust you.." Lois took another sip of water

"Trust me?To do what?", Lex asked quizzically

"Not to ...No flirtations, no inappropriate exchanges, no impromptu kisses and no innuendo."

Lex reclined in his seat "Well you can't trust me."He replied flatly and looked defiantly into Lois's eyes "But at least you know I'll always be upfront about it."

Much to Lois's surprise that was good enough for her.

"Besides..." Lex tilted his head toward the tall Nordic looking model, anxiously tapping her feet over at the bar ".. I have Anjka to keep me busy."

Lois watched Lex stand up. "What's this magazine called?"

"I'm sure you can think of something." Lex said as he walked away.

"Who was that?" Lucy said taking her seat opposite her sister.

Still in thought , Lois turned her attention back to Lucy. "... My new boss.I think..."

TBC.


	10. Chapter 10

**XYK**

**Chapter 10** – "High Voltage."

Clark lay on his back staring up at the ceiling fan. He hadn't bothered to turn the light on, take off his glasses or shoes. Instead he slowly appraised the note he held in his hand._ Thanks Lois _he muttered in defeat .Finally exasperated, he crushed both hands together, balling up the small piece of paper and tossed it across the room.

He hadn't been aware that he'd dozed off but suddenly the smell of smoke and burning roused him from his heavy dreamless sleep. He sat up slowly, slightly disorientated .He stood up and inhaled deeply...burning, something was definitely burning. He walked over to the window and surveyed the Sprawling Skyline of Metropolis, but still there was nothing. No screams, panicked commotion and no wailing of sirens.

With Lois AWOL and nothing holding him to the apartment, Clark took off his glasses, which surprisingly hadn't fallen off during sleep and quickly undressed. He walked out onto the balcony of their apartment and surveyed the horizon. He stepped onto the railings, easily keeping his balance and quickly shot off into the midnight sky, following the scent of fire.

'**Blüdhaven**', the sign read. Clark knew it to be a former whaling town just South of Gotham City. Clark continued to follow his far reaching senses until he came to a rundown apartment block on the edge of downtown. Black smoke surrounded the building and huge flames licked the inside, giving the building an unearthly glow, from inside he could hear a chorus of muffled moans and screams.

Straightaway Clark landed on one of the tiny rusty balconies and ripped the metal window casings from the walls, He couldn't help but shake his head in disgust, as they resembled the bars on prison windows. He hadn't even felt the heat penetrating his skin from the hot metal, but he could hear the sizzle of his burning flesh. It didn't slow him down; he knew he would heal within seconds. He kicked through the remaining glass and landed on what appeared to be a hallway, he blew carefully, clearing the way so he could see through the dark smoke. He mentally rationalised a game plan in order to start saving lives but it Seemed that someone had already beaten him to it.

As he blew harder and the smoke shifted it revealed a familiar female figure. Clark adjusted his sight to get a better look. "Wonder Woman?" He asked.

"Superman." Was all she replied before lunging at him, her own strength sent him reeling back through an apartment wall, both of them landing with a hard thump in bricks and rubble .The space that they had previously been standing gave in and fell through to create a huge hole.

"Thanks." Clark said, looking up at his long time acquaintance Diana Prince whose heavy breathing was hitting his face.

Diana acutely aware that she had landed on top of him immediately stood up "You're welcome. Now C'MON!"

The pair raced down the halls, checking each apartment ,him using his laser vision and her easily busting down doors. Between them they managed to round up 15 residents and get them to safety.

Outside the charred remains of the building stood a small crowd, some fire trucks, and a few reporters. The crowd erupted into a round of ceremonious applause, and shouts of 'Good Job!'Diana smiled at Clark and Clark couldn't help but smile back.

Only after they'd lapped up the applause and made sure the situation was under control did Clark and Wonder Woman take to the sky. Once they were both within Metropolis City Limits, without exchanging a word they flew to the highest peak of the Bell Tower and landed "I think we both deserve a drink." Diana smiled at Clark "Whaddya say?"

"Joe's Bar. It's on 24th Street, Just Down Town. Do you know it?"Clark asked.

"Of Course I know it." Diana smiled at him mischievously "Race you!" Before he had the chance to reply, she dived off of the Tower and zoomed off into the horizon.

In a whirlwind of speed Clark flew home, creating a mini whirlwind as he changed into a shirt and jeans, whilst slipping on his glasses and picking up his wallet, propelling himself in Tornadoe- like fashion, he left his apartment ,all without breaking speed or a sweat.

Diana, who was perched on a bar stool, and dressed in a casual blue dress and ballet bumps, exaggeratingly looked down at her watch "15 seconds. Impressive." She smiled and handed him one of the beers she had already ordered.

Clark Laughed and shook his head "Not as impressive as you, apparently."He sat down next to her on the bar stool and took a long sip of the beer. "It's been a while..."

"4 years,7 months."Diana smiled reaching for a bowl of nuts. "So what's new with you?"

Clark slowly lifted his hand to display the platinum wedding band on his finger.

"Oh, you got married?" Her voice giving way to the tiniest detection of disappointment. "So, who's the lucky girl?"

"Her name's Lois Lane."

Diana was sure she'd heard the name before, she raked over her memory "Lois Lane...Lois Lane..Lois Lane, Lo-is Lane...Hmm...The reporter? That Lois Lane?"

Clark nodded."Bingo."

"Congratulations." Diana smiled down into her beer. "How's married Life treating you?"

Clark exhaled heavily. "Not so great." He twirled the silver band around "...It's hard."

Diana paused so unsure of what to say. She couldn't recall Clark ever being anything less than chipper. She had been hit by his honesty, and secondly, the resounding sadness in his voice. She sensed not to ask him about his problems; after all they were acquaintances not friends as such, and he didn't seem in the mood to lay his burdens down.

"Well..." Diana turned to Clark "...Have you been in touch with the other guys. I saw Bart and Victor not too long ago, and Oliver's invited me to his wedding next year..."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Outside of the Pub the pair strolled easily, still glossing over shared memories and anecdotes of their days as part of the Infamous 'Justice League.' As they neared the end of the block, they stopped walking.

"I should get a cab" Diana said straddling the curb and raising her arm hoping to summons a Taxi cab.

Clark smiled, slightly bemused "Since when have you ever needed a cab?"

Diana laughed good-naturedly and put her raised arm down "When in Rome, do as the Romans do..." She shrugged "Besides, I've had a few drinks and y'know we don't have cars on Paradise Island, this is the equivalent of a roller coaster at the fairground for me."

Clark gently moved her to the side and stepped off of the curb; he put his fingers to his lips and whistled, within seconds a cab sat in front of them. _Smooth _Diana mouthed to Clark.

Clark winked back. He leant forward and opened the passenger door for her. Diana made a movement as if to step in but stopped and turned to face Clark, she put her hand on his arm "It was really nice seeing you again." Clark was at first struck by how gorgeous her light aqua blue eyes were, in all the time they had worked together in the Justice League he couldn't remember ever really looking at her properly. The second thing he was struck by was her warmth, and then by the sincerity of her voice, it had been a while since anyone had been happy to see him.

"It was nice seeing you too."

Diana got into the taxi; Clark closed the door for her and watched as she rolled the window down "Call me." She tucked some hair behind her ear "I mean, if you ever wanna talk or hang out for old time sake, don't hesitate." The cab started to back away from the curb. The acquaintances smiled at each other one final time.

Clark stood on the sidewalk, hands in the pockets of his jeans watching the cab until it turned right into another road and far out of sight.

TBC.


	11. Chapter 11

**XYK**

**Chapter 11 – **"Pink Slip."

Lois took off her sun glasses, for a second she just couldn't believe her eyes. He was plastered everywhere, that chiselled jaw line and those unmistakable steel blue eyes were staring right back at her. Not that she wasn't used to seeing him on every corner, of every street, on every newsstand. But for the last two weeks, she'd been so busy eating, laughing and shopping she hadn't thought about him until now, when she had been confronted with his image. _Clark. Or Superman as everyone else knew him._

She grabbed a copy of 'Novella 2000' but put it back when she noticed the covers of several other publications that featured, not only Clark but Wonder Woman too, standing just as tall by his side. Lois didn't have to be fluent in Italian to understand the gist of the captions written in big bold lettering '_**Gli Amanti?' **__**Una squadra magnifica!" "Il risparmio del mondo insieme..."**_

Lois looked around and whistled, "Hey Luce, C'mere."

Lucy, who had been carelessly flicking through a newspaper on the other sides of the stand, saddled over and took off her sunglasses "Hmm?"

"You speak more Italian than I do. What's it say?"She handed Lucy one of the magazines.

"Blah,blah blah...."Lucy mumbled to herself as she glanced over the article "Mmmhm,mmmhm...mmmhmmm"

Lois who was eager to know what was going on back home tapped her foot, "Lucy, I'm not a linguist but 'Blah' and 'Hmm' don't sound very Italian to me."

Lucy smiled and used her little finger to pinpoint a paragraph on the page. "Ooh here's a juicy bit, it says... '_Superman and Wonder Woman have been seen together on several occasions, fighting crime without the rest of the Justice League members. Could love be blossoming?_"

Lois wasn't sure what it was but something within her dropped. Could she be jealous? _No. Not at all_, she batted the stupid feelings away. Lois Lane didn't do jealousy, but there was a gnawing feeling chipping away at her heart. Lois slowly ran her finger over the picture of Clark. She knew exactly what was bugging her...She missed her husband, she missed him so much.

"Wonder woman is one lucky lady, Superman is fine..."Lucy put the magazine back on its shelf "...damn fine."

Lois turned to Lucy. "I think it's time I went home."

x---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------x

Lois opened the door and was immediately alerted by the sound of female laughter and the smell of something glorious cooking on the stove. She quietly wheeled her suitcase in and parked it by the coat rack. Lois followed the scent and the sound to the kitchen doorway, where she stood in the shadows.

Lois stood quietly watching something that resembled her life but not quite. In her kitchen were a man and a woman cooking and laughing together. The woman was talking animatedly whilst chopping up tomatoes, whilst the man was sipping from a glass of wine and nonchalantly stirring what was bubbling away in the pot. The woman then stood next to the man and added some salt and pepper, all the while chatting away. The man held the spoon up to the woman, who bent slightly to taste the concoction. The woman made orgasmic groans,' Yummy!' she exclaimed .The man smiled triumphantly. Lois silently tried to make sense of what she was seeing.

Lois cleared her throat and asked, "Is this a private party or can anyone join in?

Diana prince followed the voice and met Lois's suspicious eyes with her smiling, although somewhat disappointed ones.

Clarks smile faded the moment his eyes clocked Lois. "Lois. You're back." Clark looked away. He could feel a dark cloud descending over the room and his mood. What surprised him the most was the sudden feeling of anger and hurt that started to bubble in the pit of his gut.

"Yes." Was all Lois could think of to say. On the plane over she had rehearsed exactly what she was going to say; a big spiel about needing some time away, how she was sorry she hadn't called, how she had missed him and how she hoped he could forgive her for all the drama she'd put him through, but here right now, with an audience consisting of only Wonder Woman, all words evaded her. Lois turned to their guest to acknowledge her presence. "Diana."

Diana plastered on a smile and stepped forward to shake Lois's hand "Hello Lois, it's so lovely to see you again."

Lois didn't say anything as she slowly shook Diana's hand, instead she silently sized up the almost 6ft tall beautiful Amazonian. The temperature in the room seemed to drop, as it became stifled by awkwardness.

"I was teaching Clark how to make beef Stroganoff... He's been living on Pop tarts and $1 noodles." Diana laughed a nervous laughed and looked down "Umm...I should go." She started untying the apron she'd been wearing.

"No." Clark said. He made a move to stand next to Diana."Stay for dinner, It's only fair. You did help make it, after all." Clark said, silently willing Diana to stay, he still hadn't been able to look at Lois and the thought of being alone with her made him nervous.

"Yeah,stay." Lois said, although none too convincingly.

"No." Diana picked up her bag "I'm sure you guys have a lot of catching up to do."

Clark made a face that only Lois caught, she bit her tongue. She silently willed her husband to look at her but instead he moved closer to Diana and gently put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "We can't convince you to stay?"

Diana smiled up at Clark "No. But thanks..." She corrected herself and turned to acknowledge Lois "...thank you both for the offer. I should get going."

"Let me walk you to the door." Said Clark still refusing to meet Lois's gaze with his he slipped right past her, ushering Diana through to the lounge to the front door with a hand gently resting on her back. Lois sighed and grabbed a wine glass and poured her first glass of alcohol in two weeks.

At the door Diana put on her coat "The stroganoffs ready, just put it into some bowls and remember the bread is due to come out of the oven in about two minutes."

Clark nodded and smiled "Check."

Diana opened the door, and then turned around to look at her friend, "Go easy on her, Clark."

Clark's weary eyes met Diana's sunny optimistic ones with his own. "I'll try." The two parted with a peck on the cheek and Clark closed the door.

He walked back through to the kitchen only to see Lois ladling Stroganoff into Bowls; she'd already taken the bread out of the oven and laid it on the table. "I'm sorry my coming home ruined your plans."

Clark winced at the slight venom in her voice, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing..."Lois slid a bowl in front of her husband "It's just I get the feeling you'd rather be eating dinner with your little friend right now."

Clark sat down at the table and picked up a spoon "I'm not even going to dignify that."

Lois tore off a piece of bread and dipped it into her stroganoff, "You two looked very cosy, that's all I'm saying."

Clark dropped his spoon "Two weeks without so much as a phone call and you're trying to start a fight...Are you for real?"

Lois sipped her glass of wine. She didn't want to fight, she just couldn't help herself, it was the only way she knew to get him to speak to her and if she was honest, really honest then she was jealous of the scene she'd just encountered. Somewhere deep within her she'd envisioned a homecoming that involved a lot more kissing and hugging, but now she just felt irritated.

"I got a job offer." She looked at her husband from across the table.

"A job offer?" Clark asked, somewhat thrown off by the now sedate change of subject.

"Yes, I got a job offer while I was in Italy, that's where I was by the way." Lois played with the napkin on her lap "...but I haven't decided whether to take it or not."

"What kind of Job?" Clark asked.

Lois smiled slightly "Editor in Chief of an upcoming magazine."

"Whoa."Clark adjusted his glasses "But you love working at The Daily Planet."

"I **loved **working at The Planet, yes. But now I'm ready for a change..."

Clark looked at Lois, she wasn't drunk at least, which was a welcomed relief but he didn't recognise her. Sure the woman sat opposite him looked like Lois, smelt like Lois, even behaved like Lois but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"..When Lex offered me the position I was absolutely stunned, I mean..."

"I beg your pardon?" Clark interrupted Lois's flow of speech. "Did you just say Lex? As in... Lex Luthor?"

Lois stopped speaking. She nodded.

"As in... Alexander Luthor...as in the crook, as in 'the Machiavellian industrialist', as in 'The White collar criminal' ,as in...Everything that's wrong with the world!" Clark raised his voice.

Lois took her napkin and dabbed her mouth "I know you and Lex have a history together, but..."

"BUT WHAT!" Clark stood up "Lois, you know what kind of man he is, you know what he does...You're an investigative reporter for goodness sakes!"

"Well, it's not like he's ever been found guilty of anything. This is America, Clark. He is Innocent until Proven guilty."

Clark shook his head, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Lois, his Lois working for the devil."Are you out of your mind!?"

"No. I've never been better." Lois deposited her bowl at the sink and went into the living room. Clark followed.

"If you think I'm going to just stand by and let you ruin your life, you've got another think coming."

Lois was bright red with anger "YOU'RE NOT MY FATHER CLARK...I CAN DO WHAT I LIKE!"

"FINE..DO WHAT YOU WANT, SEE IF I CARE!" Clark stood, his thunderous voice matching hers at every turn.

"FINE....AND BY THE WAY, LUCY SAYS 'HI'!!!" Lois yelled, as she barged past him and ran to their bedroom and slammed the door shut with all of her might.

x-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------x

Clark eyes followed Lois through the newsroom. He could see her clearly moving with purpose, weaving around mailroom boys, gossiping administrators and random reporters. As she got to the room with the words **'Perry White- Editor in Chief'** emblazoned on it she stopped to straighten her suit and take a deep breath. She knocked and then stepped inside.

Through the offices class walls Clark could see Lois taking a seat opposite their boss; she crossed her legs and began talking. Clark couldn't make out much from their expressions, so decided to use his super listening. He hated to invade Lois's privacy but his curiosity got the better of him.

Lois handed Perry an envelope. "Consider this my two weeks' notice." Clark heard her say. Lois didn't give the white haired editor a chance to reply instead she sailed out of the office, past a stunned Clark and into a waiting elevator.

TBC.

(P.S Happy Easter everyone!)


	12. Chapter 12

**XYK**

**Chapter 12 – ****"****Round 10."**

Lois held on to the hardhat atop her head as the elevator descended upwards. She was flanked by construction workers and architects. Lex stood in front of her chatting in German on his cell phone. She patiently waited for him to finish his call, as the lift stopped at the top floor.

The doors opened to reveal what would eventually be very plush offices, looking around Lois used her imagination to fill in the understated splendour of the magazines reception area.

Lost in thought, she came to with a start when Lex gently touched her elbow."It's perfect isn't it?", he asked unnecessarily.

Lois just beamed; she took his lead and walked into the centre of the space that would eventually be the magazines headquarters.

x-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------x

The clock struck 10pm on the mantel piece but Lois worked busily arranging papers and looking over plans, she was so enthralled that she didn't hear the balcony doors open or the soft footsteps coming from behind her. A soft gust of wind hit her neck, knocking at her subconscious.

Lois turned to see her husband covered in Ash and black soot. He looked dejected and his Superman costume had been burnt.

"Are you alright?" Lois got up from the table and put her pen down. She wanted to put her arm around him but stopped herself, the mental barrier was much too strong and with all the tension surrounding them lately it felt somehow inappropriate.

"I'm fine." He answered coldly.

"You don't seem fine." Lois looked at her husband worriedly, something had happened it was written all over his face and burned all over his costume.

Clark simply walked past her and opened the refrigerator; he picked up the carton of Orange juice and poured some straight into his mouth. Lois watched him silently. Once he had finished he closed the carton and put it back into the fridge.

"What's this?" Clark indicated to the array of paperwork and building plans strewn all over the work surfaces.

Lois turned to look at Clark dead in the eye, eagerly anticipating his reaction "Building plans and paperwork for the magazine."

"So that's where you were this afternoon?"

Lois nodded.

Clark shook his head in disgust. "You've really thrown Perry through a loop."

"So, I'm just supposed to stay where I am and not even try to reach my full potential because I might hurt Perry's feelings?" Lois asked, both hands on her hips.

"Perry's been good to us."

"I know he has, but I would be crazy to turn this down."

"So you don't care what I think or how I feel?"

"Of Course I do!"

"Then why the Hell are you selling your soul to the devil?"

Lois threw her hands up in exasperation

"Not only did we lose a baby but you Lost your mind as well..."Clark regretted it as soon as he said it, but he couldn't retract it ,not now, it was how he felt.

"I can't keep doing this Clark.." Lois said quietly gathering up the papers "We can't keep doing this. I can't keep fighting with you."

"What are you saying Lois?"

Lois took a deep breath and with tears in her eyes, she said "Maybe I should move out for a little while.."

Clark clenched his teeth and looked at Lois for a long hard moment. "Maybe you should." He concurred as he calmly walked into the bathroom, turned on the shower and shut the door.

TBC.


	13. Chapter 13

**XYK**

**Chapter 13– **"The Hotline."

Chloe shook her head. This was wrong, all completely wrong; she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Then what happened?"

Clark flopped down on the couch. "Then she left."

"Just like that?"

Clark nodded and adjusted the receiver to his ear, "Just like that."

"Didn't you even attempt to stop her?"

Clark took off his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes. "...No."

"Where is she staying?"

Clark exhaled loudly "With Kat Grant, she works with us at The Planet, she and Lois are pretty tight."

Chloe got up from her seat and closed the door of her office; she sat back down at her desk and slipped her high heels off. She then swivelled round on her chair so that she could peer out at the London skyline and river Thames. " I still don't understand."

"Neither do I." Clark closed his eyes, for the first time in a long time he was feeling tired."I wish you were here Chlo."

Chloe sat silent for a few moments, she could hear the hurt in her best friends voice and there was only one thing she could think to say, "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"There's only so much you can do from London, Chlo. I'm fine; it's that cousin of yours that I'm worried about."

x----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------x

"Malcolm, I need a huge favour." Chloe said in her sweetest most compliant voice.

"What's new, Sullivan?"

"There's a family emergency back home, I need to take the rest of the week off."

Malcolm Mortimer- Jeffries the Editor in Chief of The London Standard and 15th most eligible bachelor of 2009 (according to Hello Magazine) looked at Chloe incredulously. _Family emergency? Yeah, right_. She had a cheek, she knew how busy they were at The Standard, yet here she was as brazen as brass asking for time off. Malcolm Mortimer-Jeffries got up from behind his desk, walked past Chloe and closed the door of his office. He then walked slowly towards her, circling her like pray. He grabbed her waist from behind and brought her towards him. Chloe turned to face him.

"You do realise I'll expect you to make up the hours."

"Naturally."Chloe leant forward and kissed her boss passionately. "Thank you." She whispered against his lips.

x----------------------------------------------------------------------------------x

Chloe counted the doors of the Apartment block, _2403, 2404, 2405_ "A-ha!" She said to herself. She tucked some hair behind her ears and pressed the doorbell of apartment 2406.

"Who is it?" Chloe heard a familiar voice ask from the other side of the door.

"Me. It's me Chloe."

Chloe heard the sound of what had to be five different locks and bolts being undone. The door flew open, Lois grabbed her cousin and practically flung her around with excitement "What are you doing here?"

"I had some time off and I thought I'd come home, see how my cousin was doing."

Lois smiled and batted her hand away at invisible air "I'm fine."

"Did you get my flowers?"

Lois cast her mind back to the miscarriage and the tide of floral arrangements and 'Sorry' cards that she and Clark had received. She frowned for a second but regained her composure "Yes, Thank you." She hugged her cousin then led her by the hand into the apartment.

"....Kat's reporting from some award ceremony tonight... I'll make us some coffee, and then we can catch up."

Chloe sat down and took her coat off.

Once the coffees were made and Lois was sitting in front of Chloe they talked about the weather, sport, clothes, London, even the slight but evident British lilt now attached to Chloe's accent, everything except the real reason Chloe was there.

Chloe bit the bullet; being controversial had never fazed her. "Lois, what are you doing here?" From the tone in Chloe's voice, Lois immediately knew exactly what Chloe was alluding to.

Lois sighed "Can we not do this right now."

"You should be at home with Clark."

"I don't know what he's told you but it's complicated."

Chloe shook her head, she had a feeling that the reason for the change in Lois ran a lot deeper than her cousin was willing to admit, "Tell him about the baby."

"He knows about the baby Chloe, he was there."

"No,tell him about the _other_ baby."

Lois inhaled sharply as if she had been violently winded.

Chloe took this as her cue to keep talking "He'd understand why you've been acting the way you have, he'd be there for you and maybe you could finally start to heal after all these years..."

Lois turned to her cousin "I can't believe you'd bring that up."

Chloe put her cup of coffee down and reached for her cousins' hand. "

Lois reclaimed her hand and and stood up "I want you to go."

"Lois,it's me Chloe."Chloe searched her cousins eyes for a hint of softness , but Lois was not giving an inch.

"Now if you don't mind I've got a busy day ahead of me tomorrow."Lois said curtly, she walked to the front door and held it open.

Chloe was stunned by her cousins' coldness. "Lois, don't be like that..."

"I'd like you to go now."Lois said devoid of any emotion.

Chloe got up slowly and picked up her handbag. "Lois, you don't have to be honest with me, but at least be honest with yourself...and your husband."

Lois held the front door open.

"GOODBYE Chloe"

Before Chloe had a chance to reply Lois slammed the door, hard.

TBC.


	14. Chapter 14

**XYK**

NB: Sorry for the insane break. This is number 1 of three new chapters, all of which should be up by Friday 23rd.

**Chapter ****14****-** "The Goddess."

"Speech,Speech,Speech..." The room full of reporters chanted.

Lois smiled and stood up on the nearest chair; she surveyed the faces of her colleagues and friends but couldn't see Clark. "OK guys, I've been asked to say a few words on my last day, so...."

Jimmy Olsen came bounding into newsroom "Fire, there's another fire!", he screeched.

Everybody turned away from Lois to gather around Jimmy.

Lois was stumped,but stepped off the chair and weaved her way through the crowd until she was standing right next to Jimmy and their Editor in Chief Perry White.

Lois picked up a slice of her leaving cake from the table and picked at it, before she could take a bite Perry yelled "Lane, this one's got your name all over it."

Lois watched her colleagues disperse and put the cake down on the nearest filing cabinet. "It's my last day. I can't report a story. I've got paperwork to get in order, forms to file, boxes to pack..."

"Consider it a leaving present." Perry said as he charged towards his office. Lois ran behind him trying to duck and weave around workers and inanimate objects.

"Can't Jeffery do it?"

"No!"

"Samantha?"

"No!"

"Louise?"

"No!"

"Preston?"

Perry stopped at his office door,"Your ass is mine until the day is over, now pick up a pen, a pad and hustle!"

Lois picked up her bag grudgingly. "_jeez_, anyone would think I was the only reporter in here."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The high rise tenement was set ablaze by the time Lois reached the outskirts of Metropolis. All around her there was madness and mayhem ,police,fire engines,ambulances,paramedics and the hysterical former inhabitants of the tenement,all sharing their grief in an array of languages.

Lois got a little closer ,it was then that she spotted Clark in his Superman garb and her heart skipped a beat .Everything would be ok, it had to be.

He was carrying three people out of the carnage and going back in for more.

A young south Asian lady, dressed in a lime green sari covered in smoke and ash slowly walked towards Lois. She handed Lois her baby. The lady had to have been about 25 years old. "Look after my baby..please...".,the lady said as she fainted to the ground.

"OMIGOD!" Lois bent down as best she could and used one hand to check the ladys pulse , "We need help over here!"

Two paramedics came rushing over and started resuscitation on the fallen young woman. People whirled frantically past Lois. "Your mama's gonna be fine,just fine..please be fine."she whispered to the baby whilst gently rocking. She looked at the baby and noticed she had turned a shade of purple.

"I smell gas!" screamed a fire fighter.

"Get outta here, she's gonna blow!" said another.

Lois held her breathe. Where was Clark, she couldn't see him and although common sense told her that he was infallible her heart couldn't help but worry. Just then a huge bang rang out as windows exploded and flames rose as if they were licking heaven.

Everybody ducked for cover from the explosion. Lois held tightly onto the little girl who couldn't have been a more than a few months old.

Feet away the paramedics tried to resuscitate the baby's mother.

"Frank, looks like we've got a D.O.A.", said one paramedic to another.

--x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lois stood up when the Doctor entered the hospital room. Lois hovered while the doctor checked the baby's charts and liquid glucose levels.

"This may seem awfully presumptuous, but are you Indian?"

"Yes. "The doctor answered in softly accented English.

"Is there any chance you could translate this for me. It's written in Hindi I think."

The doctor looked at Lois and leant forward to see. Around the baby girls neck was a necklace that had Hindi script engraved onto it " दुर्गा, "

"It says 'Durga' which means invincible. The Hindu deity of one who can redeem oneself in situations of utmost distress." The doctor checked the incubators air supply "If her name is anything to go by, this little one is a fighter."

Lois smiled her thank you to the doctor and the doctor smiled back, and then left the room.

Clark walked in with to plastic cups of sweet tea. He handed one to Lois who gratefully accepted the beverage.

"You want to explain to me what's been going on?"

"There have been a host of fires springing up all over the place. Edge city, Bludhaven and all around Metropolis. Mainly in poor and/ or illegal immigrant populated areas. " Clark put his hands in his pockets.

"How did I not know about this?" Lois looked astounded.

"You've been busy lately..." Clark let the words hang in the air.

Lois, suddenly feeling ashamed, looked down at the ground "Do we know who's doing it? I mean there are too many for it to be just a coincidence."

" No leads."Clark sipped his Tea.

"The night I moved out,the night that you came back covered in ash, it was because you were fighting another fire?"

"Yep."

Lois shook her head in disgust "I don't understand why anyone would do such a thing, to people who clearly have nothing."

"Our baby would have been about her age." Clark said more to himself then to Lois, but Lois caught the words by surprise and felt the tug of her heartstrings."Have the doctors been in ?"

"Yes." Lois followed his eyes towards the incubator "Smoke inhalation. Apparently she'll be fine but they want to keep her in for as long as possible to monitor her."

"Thank God." Clark said, still watching the sleeping infant intently."What about Social services?"

"Yeah they came. Since the hospitals are keeping her for a few days they're looking for any clues of family members here or back in India. But it doesn't look good-everything was burnt in the fire, and if they are illegal like her mother was, then they're not likely to come forward." Lois leant forward and put her head in her hands "It's a mess."

"I'll drive you home, Lois."

"I'm staying" Lois said sitting up right "She doesn't deserve to be alone tonight."

"No. No she doesn't" Clark pulled up another chair to the incubator and looked down at the beautiful sleeping baby.

PTO.


	15. Chapter 15

**XYK**

CHAPTER 15- **Wake up call.**

Lois had been awake for at least 5 minutes, but she didn't unfold her limbs from the chair she'd been sleeping in, nor did she yawn and stretch or arms out as per usual. Instead she sat silently watching Clark who had Baby Durga in his arms .He was staring down at the baby adoringly whilst successfully feeding her a bottle.

"You're a natural." Lois broke the silence.

Clark caught Lois's eye, she could tell that he was losing the fight to contain a smile. "You're awake.", he said in a half whisper "She's got a healthy appetite."

Lois smiled, "...so, I see." She unfolded her limbs and stood up to stretch. She looked around at the hospital surroundings. "I can't believe I fell asleep. You should have woken me. Did a nurse check on her?"

"Yep. She's fine. They said I could feed her and..." Clark said still looking down at the baby in his arms. Durga reached up and put her chubby little hand over his mouth as if to stop him talking.

Lois and Clark both laughed. Clark stood up to burp the baby, carefully positioning her over his shoulder. Lois stood quietly astounded, she had know Clark the gentle giant but to watch him cradle a baby was simply beguiling, it made her warm and tingly, she hadn't realised she'd been smiling until Clark asked "What?"

"Oh,nothing." Lois answered blushing bright red.

The early morning sunshine seeped in through the windows .

"You were amazing yesterday."

"Not amazing enough."Clark looked at Lois.

Lois got up and walked over to where Clark was gently rocking the baby, "Hey! That's enough of that talk. You saved almost 100 lives last night. You did your best..."

"My best..."Clark scoffed sadly "...Saraswati would still be here if I'd done better."

"There was nothing that anyone could have done." Lois leaned in closer "Not even you."

Clarks sad eyes met Lois's determined eyes ,and he couldn't tell whether it was the conviction in her voice or intensity of her gaze ,but he believed her.

"Saraswati...That's Durga's mothers name, huh?"

"Yep, she had on similar gold necklace as Durga. The lady doctor was kind enough to translate it for me."Clark reached down into his jean pocket and pulled out a golden necklace. "The police were kind enough to let me have it, for Durga as a keepsake. I figured she'd want something that belonged to her mother."

Lois smiled and gently stroked the babies head. Clark was so damn thoughtful; it had taken all her strength not to hold him when he looked so vulnerable. Instead Lois ran her finger over the golden Hindi script " सरस्वती " it read. "Saraswati", Lois whispered sadly "Such a beautiful name."

Just as a comfortable silence settled over them Lois's cell phone rang, _beep beep_. She smiled apologetically at Clark and reached into her bag that had been lying nearby.

"Lex?"

Lois caught the clenched teeth and look of disdain Clark gave at the mention of his arch nemesis ,so she turned her back and continued with her phone call.

"Lois,I've had my assistant ringing your home line for the best part of an hour."

"Why?"

"We have a press conference today. We introduce the magazine to the world; drum up some publicity, get people talking...You do remember?"

"Of course I remember."She lied. With all the events of the last 24 hours she'd totally forgotten her agenda for the day.

"Hmm ummm" Lex said, none too convinced " 2pm the Luthor Regency Hotel."

Lois looked down at her watch 7:30 am, she breathed a sigh of relief, there was still time. Time for her to go home ,have a shower, grab a coffee, type up a summary for her last article, pick her press conference outfit up at the cleaners and beg Kat or maybe Odessa to pack up the last of the belongings on her work desk.

Lois rubbed her forehead "I'll be there ,2pm at The Luthor Regency Hotel."

"Good." Without fuss or sentiment Lex Luthor hung up.

Just as Lois flipped her cell phone closed a Nurse walked in. A portly lady with white hair and round orange framed glasses. "How'd she feed?"

"Finished the lot."Clark stood up and handed the baby over to the nurse.

"Well,this cherub is going down to the Nursery today. Wave goodbye."The nurse smiled down at Durga.

Lois smiled "Bye Bye Durga,we'll see you soon."

Clark gave her head a quick pat and watched the nurse leave with her. After the nurse and the baby had exited, Clark and Lois stood there feeling somewhat superfluous and empty. Clark looked down and Lois fiddled with the cell phone still in her hand.

"We should probably go."Clark suggested.

Lois was already ten steps ahead, gathering up her jacket and belongings.

The two walked out of the hospital side by side in silence. Once they had reached the exit, Clark turned to Lois "Do you need a ride?"

"No. Kat's place is like 6 blocks away. I can walk."

Clark nodded. Parting as if they hardly knew each other was strange but he wasn't sure how to overcome it.

"I have a press conference today."

"I'd heard."

"Oh." Lois looked down at her shoes.

The two stood in awkward silence again. Until Lois broke it, "I don't know who from the Planet is reporting the conference, but you should come...I mean, only if you want to and only if you can."

Clark nodded "We'll see. "He turned in the opposite direction and began to walk towards the Car Park. Lois sighed and bit her lip, she watched him walk a few paces towards his car, and then turned to navigate her way to Kat's apartment.

"Lois!" Clark called suddenly, making Lois jump and immediately turn to face him.

"Yes."

"Good Luck." he said "For this afternoon."

Lois smiled. "Thank you."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

TBC.


	16. Chapter 16

**XYK**

**Chapter 16**- 'Smile For the Cameras'

Lois paced the hotel suite that Lex had given her and looked down at her watch ,straightened her pencil skirt and checked her hair in the mirror. She was nervous. Lois Lane wasn't a person who did nervous very often but on the few occasions that she did, it was pretty awful. It was times like these that she would have had Clark to lean on.

Walking home in the early morning sunshine had felt good, it had been ages since they'd smiled at each other and talked without shouting or using expletives. She really hoped that Clark would come to the conference. Just to see, after all, maybe just maybe it would change his perceptions.

Just then a knock at the door. Lois took a deep breath expecting to see Lex but instead saw the Hotels concierge.

"Mr Luthor will be in the Foyer in 5 minutes ,Ms Lane."

"Thank you "Lois nodded and closed the door, she ran over to the chair that had her business jacket draped over it and picked it up. She tried unsuccessfully to button it up but her hands were shaking. Lois sat down, closed her eyes and counted to five, when she opened her eyes the first thing she saw was the telephone, she walked over to it and put the receiver to her ear. With her other hand she began dialling the first numbers of Clark's cell phone number, but then stopped.

Lois reprimanded herself and put the phone down.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The place was packed with reporters from all over America, even some from overseas, eager to hear about one of the World's most powerful men and his next business venture. Clark stood inconspicuously at the back of the room behind the cameras and their equipment. From His position he could see two fellow reporters from the Planet, Kat Grant and Susana Valdez. He hadn't intended on covering the event, so had lied to Perry about chasing some random lead and had come straight to the Hotel. He didn't agree with Lois and her self destruction but he always loved her, always wanted her to succeed.

Just then the room went silent and everybody stood up as Lex Luthor entered the room. A few feet behind him was Lois. She looked radiant and confident as she took her seat on the podium next to Lex Luthor. Lois quickly scanned the room, hoping to see Clark. There were so many people she couldn't see a thing. Her heart sank but she smiled and took a deep breath anyway.

For an hour and a half, Lois answered every question thrown at her. She had been a reporter, she knew how to play the game. She was smart, quick witted and funny. The Worlds press were eating out of her hand.

At the end of the conference, PR announced that there would be a chance for photos. Lois and Lex got up and made their way over to a section that had been prepared.

"Smile for the cameras, darling."Lex whispered in Lois's ear, as he gently put an arm around her waist.

Lois smiled, uncertain of which direction to look. Flashes were coming at them from every angle, that she couldn't help but feel disoriented.

Unexpectedly Lex dipped Lois and before she had a chance to ask what was going on he pressed his lips against hers. His gesture didn't escape the flashing cameras and excited yells of the surrounding reporters.

Lex let go of Lois as quickly as he had grabbed her. Lois stood dazed and confused next to Lex as they were bombarded with flashing light bulbs, wolf whistles and frenzied questions on their supposed burgeoning business and romantic 'relationship'.

Lois looked around, searching the periphery for an exit route. It was then that Lois saw Clark, standing alone at the far end of the press conference room, right near the exit. Away from all the buzzing and chaos of the other reporters. The scowl on his face was absolutely unmistakeable. He shook his head in disbelief and hit the door so hard they swung open.

Everybody turned around to see were the crash had come from but saw nothing but the swinging doors and turned back around to the Billionaire and his editor in chief.

Lois shrugged off Lex's arm and pushed her way through the crowd "Excuse me!" she yelled, trying to work her way through the throng of people. Once she had passed them all, she made her way out into the foyer of the Hotel and searched for Clark.

"Clark! Clark stop!"

Clark continued walking without looking back. His fists clenched at his side.

Lois sprinted her last few steps and managed to get in front of him "Stop!Let me explain!" She said holding out her hand trying to block him from going any further.

Clark looked down at his wife,"Thanks for everything."

Lois looked blank; she had no idea what Clark was alluding to. The now calm expression on his face didn't match the undertone of passive aggression in his voice.

"For showing me what I couldn't see for myself..."

"What couldn't you see for yourself?"Lois asked, fear in her voice.

"That our marriage is well and truly over." Clark looked Lois hard in the eyes and without hesitance and in the clearest voice he could muster, said. "I want a divorce."

Lois stood mouth agape. All words evaded her as Clark flung the Regencys doors open and stormed off into the rain.

TBC.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17** – The beginning of the end.

What had been drizzle was now practically a monsoon. Big swollen drops of rain fell down furiously from the sky. Lois stood on the side walk, without a coat or an umbrella trying to catch a cab, all with the sound of Clarks words ringing in her ear_. I want a divorce_. Lois shuddered.

"TAXI!"

Once Lois had been delivered home she went in search of her car keys. She didn't change her soaking suit or blow dry her hair, she needed to find Clark, to explain. She knew Clark wouldn't be at their apartment. Instinctively she knew he'd go somewhere familiar and dark to think. Somewhere no one would bother him. He'd go home. Clark would go to the barn.

Lois grabbed her car keys and made her way to her car. The sky was still spitting torrents of rain. Her cell phone rang.

"Hello?" Lois asked, whilst trying to navigate her car towards route 94 ,from the corner of her eye she noticed a 'You are now leaving Metropolis' sign.

"Lois, where are you? I thought we'd get celebratory drinks after the conference."

Lois immediately recognised the voice .She couldn't believe that Alexander Luthor had the audacity to call her.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'D PULL A STUNT LIKE THAT!"

"Oh, the kiss..." Lex sighed, a little too nonchalant for Lois's liking.

"YES, THE KISS...HOW DARE YOU!"

"It was a kiss Lois, get over it." Lex reclined at the back of his Limo.

Lois couldn't believe what she was hearing,."Get over it!? It could have cost me my marriage..."

"Lois, it was purely a PR stunt .We achieved what we set out to do. Drum up publicity."

"What WE set out to do?" Lois spat in disgust "You never informed me of your little plan, you should have run it by me first."

"A little melodramatic don't you think." Lex sounded amused which only served to frustrate Lois more. "I mean, if one publicity stunt kiss _without_ passion, I might add, costs you a marriage, then there probably wasn't much marriage to begin with."

Lois wanted to say something that would disprove and wipe the undoubted sly smirk from his face but she knew there was some truth in what he had said. Hers and Clarks marriage was just too fragile at the moment to withstand any allegations of betrayal. Lois bit her lip and felt the sting of a hot solitary tear fall down her cheek. She hung up her cell phone and tossed it to the back of her car.

"Lois? Lois..?" Lex asked into his mobile phone. All he got was the dial tone, indicating that she had hung up. Lex closed his phone and smirked.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

An hour and 15 minutes later Lois pulled up to the farm, the rain had stopped and in the distance was a huge rainbow.

Lois stepped out of her car and looked over at the house, no lights. Lois sighed a sigh of relief, it looked like Martha wasn't home and facing her mother in law was a challenge she wasn't equipped for just yet. Walking over the slushy mud towards the barn, Lois wrapped her arms around herself, to calm her nerves and stop her teeth from chattering.

Lois made her way up to the barn. There Clark was, sitting in the darkest shadow, with his back against one of the walls bouncing a rubber ball. He didn't look over to acknowledge her presence. So Lois waited for Clark to bounce the ball, and instead of letting it ricochet off of the wooden ledge and back into Clarks arms, Lois stealthily caught it with both hands and put it on his old work desk.

"Are you sleeping with him?"

The question, which had seemingly come from nowhere, threw Lois through a loop, "How can you even ask me that?"

"Are you sleeping with him?"Clark reiterated, this time with a little more force.

Lois shook her head, "You know me."

"I thought I did, once upon a time."Clark stood up and dusted off his work pants. The couple were facing each other now.

Silence. Their words hung in the air, making it colder than it had ever been between them.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lois finally asked.

Clark clenched his jaw and silently appraised Lois "I don't recognise you anymore."

"Well, maybe you're not looking hard enough."Lois shot back.

"Are you sleeping with him?" Clark asked again.

"NO! Clark, No-I –am-not-sleeping-with-Lex-Luthor."Lois enunciated each syllable, hoping it would prove effective. "the kiss was purely a publicity stunt."

"I don't believe you."

Lois gasped as if the air had been choked out of her.

"You're not the kind of woman that goes without...and since you're not getting it from me, maybe you're getting it from him."

Lois could feel her anger and hurt boiling over ,and before she could stop herself ,she threw herself at Clark and slapped him across the face with all the fire she could garner. The sound reverberated throughout the old silent barn. They stood in silence, Lois fighting the urge to wince in pain and Clark fighting the urge to check if her hand was broken.

"So there it is, your true opinion of me...."Lois said choking back tears. "It's a wonder you could stand to be with me so long!"

Lois straightened her clothes and ran a finger through her hair; she turned in her heels and started to descend the barns stairs "I'll have my lawyers draw up a settlement."

"I can't wait."Clark said sarcastically burying the urge to hit something."Have a nice life Lois."

"Don't worry..."Swallowing her tears, Lois looked up from the darkened staircase in which she was standing in"...I will."

TBC.


	18. Chapter 18

XYK

**Chapter 18-** "Zen"

Lois knocked on the door. She really hadn't needed to, after all she still had the keys to the apartment, but out of courtesy and respect she decided to knock.

Using her right hand she knocked carefully, trying not to agitate the sprain she'd acquired during her and Clark's last encounter.

When he finally opened the door the mask had been discarded. He looked different, suddenly a little older, tired even. Nothing like the exuberant image of Superman splashed across every newspaper in Metropolis, nor did he possess the friendly chipper Zen of his work day persona.

"What do you want?"

Lois cleared her throat and looked down at the empty removal boxes she'd brought with her, "I just came to get some of my things. I can come back later when you're not here.."

Clark shook his head, beckoned her inside and shifted to the right, giving Lois enough room to enter the apartment that had formerly been her home. Their home. Now it just felt cold and foreign. As she entered the living room, Lois crossed her arms against her body, she hadn't realised that she'd been shaking.

"You know where everything is." Clark said gravely, not turning to look as he went to the opposite side of the room.

Lois walked over to the Stereo system and gently ran her finger over the thin layer of dust that was picked up a stack of CDs and began to sort through them. _.Ours_ ,she mentally said as she divided up the CDs into each pile. Not a laborious task, the Rock, rap, heavy metal and hip hop CDs were hers,whilst the Indie ,Motown and Country CDs were his. Everything else went into the in-between Lois had finished she looked down at the CDs and couldn't help but fight away tears.

"Want a drink?"

Lois slightly jumped, knocked out of her internal dialogue; she'd forgotten that Clark had been in the room, leaning against the book cases silently watching her. Lois inhaled and collected herself. She turned around and forced herself to meet Clark's eyes. "A coffee would be great. Thanks."

Clark exhaled and went into the kitchen. Lois walked over to the book case and chucked a few books into her boxes; she skilfully perused each title and claimed the ones that belonged to her. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the leather bound first edition copy of 'Letters to a young poet' by Rainer Maria Rilke, on the top shelf, just out of her reach. The first gift Clark had bought her once he'd started working at the Daily Planet.

Lois got on her tip toes and tried to reach for the book, but to no avail.

Clark quietly entered the room with two steaming cups of coffee in his hand. Clark watched her stretch for a few moments, and then put the coffee cups down on the coffee table. He slowly walked up behind her. They hadn't stood this close in a long while. Lois became acutely aware of her husband and tried to ignore how inviting he smelt. She could tell that he had been to visit Martha on the farm. He smelt of fresh cut grass and her double choc- chip chocolate brownies. Standing behind Lois, Clark stretched up and took the book down without any trouble. Lois turned round but had underestimated the amount of room between them and found herself practically face to face with Clark, had it not been for the height difference they would be lip to lip. Clark slowly handed Lois the book. "Thanks," She said in a half whisper.

Lois opened the book and read the inscription out loud.

"_**To Lois,My Lois...**_

_**In the words of someone far wiser than myself..."For one human being to love another; that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparatio**__**n"**_

_**I love you.**_

_**Smallville. X**_

She smiled, hit with nostalgia and looked up at Clark; the look on his face was one she didn't recognise. They stood quietly staring at each other, bathing in late afternoon/early evening sunlight.

An instinct deep within her propelled her to hold him, she stepped forward, intent on closing the tiny gap between them, but Clark took one step back breaking the momentary spell that had been cast. Avoiding her eye contact, he said "I'm going to take a shower ,let yourself out when you're done."

Lois looked down and nodded, Clark walked away and went to the bathroom without looking back.

Lois sighed. If he was prepared to be civil then so would she.

Lois surveyed the room and made a mental list of thing she still had to do. She went over to the writing bureau that held her passport, bank details and other paperwork, she tried to open one of the drawers. It was locked; all the bureau's drawers were locked .This surprised her because they'd never locked the bureau. She bit her lip and tried to remember where the key had been. Under a plant pot.

Locked safely in the bureau were their wedding photo album and neatly bundled photos. Lois took one of the bundles and slowly untied the string that held them together. It was them, every single photo that they'd taken together, all the smiles and memories had been shoved away into the dark mahogany bureau.

Something in Lois snapped, she couldn't breathe. She couldn't contain the torment any longer, she clutched her heart and let out ,what would have been a heart stopping scream had she not been covering her mouth with her hands. The tears that raced down her cheeks seemed to be too quick for her hands to wipe away.

She wanted him to see .She wanted him to know that he wasn't the only one having a hard time with this. With her hands slowly shaking, she opened the already ajar bathroom door. She could barely see past the steam but could make out the figure of the man under the shower. Clark pulled back the shower curtain and faced Lois.

He stood there naked, the shower streaming over him at full blast but he didn't blink or rush to cover up his nakedness, instead he met Lois's eyes with so much pain and intensity that Lois had to wince. "I'm sorry..."she began. "I just...."

Before she could finish her sentence Clark effortlessly lifted her into the bath tub and cupped her face in his hands. Slowly he bought his lips towards her in a slow soul stirring kiss. With confidence and ease Clark snaked his tongue into Lois's welcoming mouth. Despite the shower raining down on them, Lois could hear the staccato drum beat of her heart. Dizzy with intoxication, Lois grabbed Clark's waist and allowed him to back her up against the showers tiled walls.

Clark eased the soaking T-shirt from up over her head and threw it onto the bathroom floor, He thanked heaven for small mercies when he discovered that she hadn't been wearing a bra. Clark slowly lowered he mouth and kissed down her throat and then slowly down her chest. Running her fingers through his hair, Lois let out a small moan of pleasure.

Using that as a signal to continue Clark undid the button of her jeans and unzipped them. Lois wrapped up in the heat and good feeling, stepped out of her jeans and allowed Clark to fling them towards the floor.

Almost as naked as him, Lois allowed herself to be galvanized by this man who made her heart pound. Clark reached down for her panties.

"I'm sorry..."Lois stopped Clarks hand from going further. She stepped out of the shower and picked up her soaking T-Shirt and jeans ,then walked out of the bathroom. She let fresh tears run down her cheeks unashamedly.

As much as she wanted to be with her husband, she knew they had unresolved issues that a quickie couldn't possibly fix.

"Lois..." Clark switched off the shower and chased after her. He grabbed her arm and turned her around "Lois, don't go!"

Lois tried to reclaim her arm. "I have to. ."

Clark blocked her exit. Lois dropped the wet clothes she'd been carrying in a bundle.

"Let me go,Clark."Lois wailed.

Clark gently reached over and used his hand to wipe her tears "Nothing's changed."

Lois didn't shrug him off or move away. "Nothing's changed." she agreed.

Clark made love to her like a man possessed, right there on the living room floor, with the sun setting over Metropolis. He wanted her to melt like a chocolate bar in the middle of July. Most of all he wanted to make sure that never again would she reach such heights with another man. Looking back it seemed to be some sort of beautiful torture. Clark was all at once, rough and tender, forgiving yet punishing. Once they'd finished, they lay side by side weak and expiated, completely silent except for the sound of sirens on the street below.

Clark wasn't sure when they'd fallen asleep but when he woke up the apartment was shrouded in darkness. Clark adjusted his eyes and looked around the eerily quiet apartment. Lois was gone and in her place were her door keys and her diamond wedding ring.

Clark calmly got up, thumbled for his glasses then proceeded to punch a giant hole into the nearest wall.

TBC.


	19. Chapter 19

**XYK **

**Chapter 19-** "Theoretically speaking."

**Lois's day**

Lois put the empty feeding bottle down and gently placed the baby on her shoulder and slowly, but firmly rubbed her small back, waiting for the faint sound of a burp.

"You're a natural." Said the young blonde nurse watching over the babies in the hospital nursery "Got any kids of your own?"

"No."Lois smiled sadly "None." She handed Durga over to the Nurse. "Okay, Shorty. I have a busy day ahead of me, but I promise I'll come and visit you tonight."Lois picked up her things and made her way out of the Nursery at such speed that she nearly collided with the female doctor that she had met on Durga's first night.

"Oh,sorry Dr Lakhani."

"Call me Jaspreet. It's lovely to see you again, Ms Lane."

"Call me Lois."The two women walked together making polite conversation about Durga's progress.

"I hear you've been here to visit Durga every single day this week." Jaspreet said.

"Yeah well, her mother asked me to look after her baby before she died" Lois stopped walking "I guess I feel responsibility towards her. At least until Social services finds her relatives."

Dr. Jaspreet Lakhani nodded. Her pager beeped and she looked down at it. "It was nice seeing you again Ms Lane, I must get on."She touched Lois's arm apologetically and hurried off in the opposite direction.

Lois smiled her goodbyes, before making out into the Metropolis sunshine. Lois looked down at her watch. She was late for her appointment. She had to get uptown in 15 minutes. She raced to her car and drove over to her Lawyers office.

'Crawford, Polinsky and Wrexler' The huge gold embossed sign read. Before entering the building Lois inhaled and exhaled deeply. Never in the seven years she and Clark had been married had she imagined seeing divorce Lawyers.

Finally inside, Lois sat opposite her divorce Lawyer Golda Wrexler, the fiercest thing since 5 inch Louboutin heels.

"Lois, you have to be strategic about this."

"I just want what I paid for my half of the apartment, nothing more and nothing less."

Golda Wrexler shook her head in disbelief. "I've never met a divorcee like you yet. Most broads I meet want as much as they can get their hands on. Men and women."

"Well,I guess I'm not most divorcee's."

"You said your Ex had some investments tied up on a farm. How many acres?"Golda asked, shuffling through her notes.

Lois held her hand up "No. That's not what I want. His mother, a woman I have a great deal of respect for still lives on the farm and besides, his father left him the farm before he passed."

Golda looked sceptical and reclined in her huge leather chair "You're not still in love with this man, are you?"

"What's love got to do with it." Lois looked down at her bare ring finger. "I just want to walk away with my dignity intact."

Golda Wrexler did not look convinced at all "Sure, whatever you say."

Lois sighed a sigh of relief.

"Well, now that we have agreed upon the exact terms of the divorce, I'll have them drawn up and served to your soon to be ex-husband. A.S.A.P."

Lois felt her mouth go dry.

Lois took her time walking out of the Lawyers office. She couldn't believe that it had come to this,it all seemed so final.

As she slid into her car and put on dark glasses to cover up her red eyes, her cell phone rang. The name 'CHLOE' appeared on the screen. Lois hesitated before picking up the phone,after all they had parted on less than friendly terms the last time Chloe was on American soil.

"Lois, it's me Chloe."

"Hey Chloe."Lois said in a small voice "How've you been?"

Chloe bit the bullet "Not so good. I just found out that my best friend and my cousin are heading towards divorce court."

Lois bit her lip "Just don't Chloe, ok?"

"Just don't what?"Chloe asked sarcastically "tell you the truth?"

"I don't need a lecture, I need a friend."Lois said, a tear running down her cheek.

"When are you going to stop running away, Lois?"

Lois gritted her teeth "I don't know what you mean."

"You run away Lois, it's what you do. Sure you've got the witty sarcastic remarks and a killer karate chop but when it comes down to it you just keep running."

"You think I'm running away!?" Lois asked shaking her head

"Yes. That's exactly what I think you're doing." Chloe was on a role. She tried not to think about the international phone call bill "You ran away when you were 14,you ran away from military school, you ran away from MET U and now you're running away from Clark. He loves you."

"He loves me so much he asked for a divorce." Lois scoffed "I bet he didn't tell you about his little friend,_ Diana._"

"Diana?" Chloe asked.

Lois took off her glasses and checked her face in the rear-view mirror. She rubbed her eyes and tried to move distorted mascara stains.

"Tell him about the baby, tell him about the overdose, and tell him everything. He'll understand..."

Lois shook her head, she could feel a headache coming on, and she really didn't have the patience for this. "Maybe I don't want him to understand, MAYBE I JUST WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE!" Lois slammed her cell phone shut and punched her steering wheel in frustration. She only realised she was sobbing when she felt moisture on her hands.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Dr Fox undid the stirrups and took off her gloves. "You can get dressed now,Lois."

Lois closed her legs and slipped down from the examination table.

"Your cervix is doing well; no lacerations or ulcers. You could carry a baby again." The doctor paused "In theory you could carry a..." Lois could sense the doctor tripping over the words.

"A human baby." Lois finished the doctors' sentence with ease.

"Exactly. It's not advisable that you and your husband try to get pregnant again, otherwise we'd be dealing with a repeat of last time, unfortunately."

"Don't worry that won't be happening. Clark and I are getting a divorce."

Dr Leticia Fox couldn't hide her visible surprise. "That's a shame. I truly am sorry to hear that. You seemed so in Love."

Lois did the zip of her skirt and sat down opposite the doctor,"Doc,can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, Lois. Go ahead."Dr Fox, wrote notes down and didn't look up.

"Theoretically speaking...."Lois started tapping her fingers against the chairs arm "Had I been non human myself, really strong, like, perhaps an Amazon from somewhere far like another galaxy, would I have carried the baby to term?"

Dr Fox looked up from her notes, "I don't understand. What exactly are you asking, Lois?"

"Could I have a half Kryptonian if I was Wonder woman?" Lois asked bluntly.

Dr Fox made a face, but put her pen down. "Yes" was all she said as she got up and rummaged around for some folders.

Lois nodded slowly and bit her lip, as her stomach dropped.

"Intergalactic biology is highly different from human, but there are so many similarities. As long as the female owns a female reproductive gamete that can merge with a viable male gamete, there is no reason that fertilization shouldn't occur. Then of course it's just a matter of the body's ability to create a viable environment for the foetus to grow. Here's some reading material, if you'd like to read more, it's incredibly interesting." Smiled Dr Fox.

Leaving 's office had deflated her. But she could think of an immediate upper, something that would make her feel good. Holding a certain beautiful baby girl in her arms.

Lois rounded the corner into the hospitals nursery; Lois entered the doorway and stopped immediately. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. There, in front of her, stood Diana Prince and Clark cooing and awwing over baby Durga.

TBC

NB: Reviews, comments and feedback are very much appreciated. ;)

Thank You.


	20. Chapter 20

XYK

**Chapter 20-** "Pretty young thing (P.Y.T)".

Today was Lois's birthday. That was the thought that occurred to Clark the moment he woke up.35 years old today! He hadn't wanted to acknowledge the day but he couldn't help it, laying in their bed his mind drifted back to last year. He'd woken her up with slow kisses starting at her thighs and slowly working his way up, until-. Clark immediately shook the memories away and headed to the shower, whilst in there he heard a knock at the front door. Dripping wet he wrapped a towel around his waist.

"Sign here please." The courier said, thrusting a clip board and pen at Clark.

Clark signed, closed his door and held the big brown envelope in his hand; he knew instinctively what lay inside. His guts dropped as he tore the top off of the envelope and turned the papers over. At the top of the first page read the words 'petition for divorce.'

X-O-X-O-X-O-X

Lana held out a pink cupcake with a yellow candle in the middle. "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you..."She sang loudly, standing outside Lois's new apartment. Lois held the door wide open, leant over and blew the candle out.

"Thanks."She hugged Lana and pecked her on the cheek. Lana handed Lois the cupcake, and smiled as Lois took a bite.

Lana put down her travel bag and appraised the apartment "Not too shabby....Not too shabby at all.."

"I'm glad you like it." Lois said, pleased. "I couldn't stay with kat forever."

Lana looked over at the huge bunch of exotic flowers on Lois's mantle piece.

"They're from Lucy."Lois said, following her friends gaze "She couldn't make it back from Sweden."

Lana took off her jacket, hung it up and asked, "How are you holding up?"

"Michael Jackson's dead! How do you think I'm holding up?" Lois said seriously.

Lana shook her head, Lois knew full well Lana hadn't been alluding to that "Well, we're all trying to cope with the loss, but I meant about your current situation."

Lois shrugged "Life goes on..." and finished the last of her cupcake.

Lana nodded.

"Where are Pete and the baby?" Lois asked going into the kitchen to get some wine glasses.

"The baby is with Nell this weekend and Pete sends his apologies, but he's working on his campaign and can't get time off..."

"Bummer." Lois put the glasses down on the coffee table.

"Yeah, but in situations such as these, there's only ever one thing to do!"Lana said, hands on hips and a mischievous smile.

"What's that?"

"D-A-N-C-E..." said Lana reaching into her bag and pulling out a bundle of Michael Jackson and Jackson 5 CDs "I say we start with '_ABC_' and then see where the mood takes us."

Lois clapped her hands together and squealed excitedly.

X-O-X-O-X-O-X

Clark sat fully dressed staring at the papers. He had read them, re- read them, and then read them once more for good measure. Lois's requests were highly reasonable and rational, almost clinical, and for some unknown reason it made Clark angry. In anger Clark picked up a pen and put it to the dotted line, he so wanted to sign it and be done with, he took a deep breath but the sound coming from the TV stopped him, he put his pen 1 were playing Tribute videos, and currently "_Never can say goodbye_." By The Jackson 5 was playing.

"I keep thinkin that our problems  
Soon are all gonna work out  
But there's that same unhappy feeling and there's that anguish, there's that  
doubt  
It's the same old did ya hang up  
Can't do with you or without

Tell me why  
Is it so  
Don't wanna let you go..."

Clark stopped thinking and let the lyrics wash over him. The resonance was crippling, it was as though The Jackson 5 were singing to him, about him.

"...I can never can say goodbye girl  
(never can say goodbye girl)  
ou ou baby  
(don't wanna let you go girl)  
I never can say goodbye  
no no no no no no no no no no no..."

Clark reached for the remote control and switched off the TV set.

X-O-X-O-X-O-X

Pete could hear the beat of '_Dancing machine _' down the phone line, "What are you doing?" Pete asked.

"Watching Lois do the White girl shuffle!" yelled Lana over the music and into her cell phone.

Lois stuck her tongue out "I could have been on Soul Train!"

Lana made a face and laughed "Hmmm mmhm."

Pete laughed "Are you guys drunk?"

Lana yelled over at Lois "Are we drunk?"

Still swaying from side to side, Lois took a sip of her glass of wine "Not yet!"

Pete laughed "Ok, you ladies have fun. Tell Lois I said Happy Birthday."

" Love you."

"Love you too, see you Tuesday."Pete said as he hung up.

Lana put her cell phone down and got up to change the song. "I'm taking requests, Birthday girl!"

"_P.Y.T_,Please!" Lois said full of glee.

"Good choice."Lana changed the song, stood up and kicked off her shoes "Let me show you how it's really done."

Lois ran into her bedroom and grabbed what appeared to be a hairbrush and a pair of curling tongs; she handed the tongs to Lana and kept the hairbrush for herself "_I want to love you!_" Lois sang into her makeshift microphone .

"_P.Y.T, PRETTY YOUNG THING!..."_ Lois and Lana bumped and two stepped all the while singing along and laughing.

"You Know _Billie Jean_ has to be next."Lana said twirling around. As the song finished the two collapsed laughing.

"Thanks for this."Lois looked into her friends eyes.

"You're my friend, Lois."Lana smiled "I would never let you spend your birthday alone."

"It not just that..."Lois said, before relaying the events of the past couple of weeks, culminating in yesterday at the hospital.

Lana listened intently "So what did you do once you saw them with the baby?"

Lois bit her lip. "Nothing.I left.I don't even think they noticed me."

"Wonder Woman, huh?" Lana asked "I never liked her."

Lois looked down and swallowed hard "What do I care anyway. Before you know it Clark and l will be free agents..."

Lana looked disbelievingly at Lois "Once more with feeling."

"I know the whole dance to _Thriller_." Lois jumped up, eager to shake off the overwhelming sadness and change the subject.

Just then there was a knock on the front door. Lois reached for the HiFi remote and turned the music down; she got up and straightened her clothes out, then raced to the door. She opened it to find a courier standing at the door smacking gum. "Lois Lane?"

"Yes."Lois replied

The courier thrust a clipboard into Lois's expectant arms and handed her a pen. Lois signed on the dotted line, and watched as the courier handed her what appeared to be a gift bag. Lois closed the door and set the bag down.

"Who's that from?" Lana asked, getting up to stand besides her friend.

Lois just shrugged.

_Clark._ She'd wanted to say but didn't want to give voice to her optimism. Lois opened the gift bag and grabbed the white card. She read it out loud.

_Happy Birthday, Lois. Prepare to embark on the greatest adventure of your life.-Lex._

Lois shook away her disappointment and reached into the box again and pulled out what appeared to be a turquoise Tiffany box. She opened the box and was almost blinded by the light and deafened by Lana's ecstatic squeal. There lay an expensive diamond necklace. Lois immediately shut the box and took a breath.

"That must have cost a huge chunk of change!" Lana exclaimed grabbing at the box.

"Tell me about it." Lois let Lana admire the gift for a few moments then took the box back "I can't accept this. It's too extravagant."

At precisely that moment the phone began to ring. Lois answered. "Hello?"

"It's Lex."

Lois looked over at Lana. Lana immediately grabbed the phone and put it on loudspeaker.

"What are you doing tonight?"

Lois twirled the phone cord "Just hanging with a friend, drinking wine and dancing to Michael Jackson's entire back catalogue."

"Sounds like fun."Lex chuckled "I'd love to take you both out to dinner to celebrate your birthday."

"Umm...I don't think.." Lois began

"We'd Love too."Lana said stepping forward, she looked at Lois and shrugged.

If Lex was surprised at being put on loudspeaker or the presence of another person in their conversation, he certainly didn't show it.

"Settled. I'll pick you up in an hour." He said.

Lois fake scowled at Lana who was now laughing whilst mouthing 'sorry' at her friend.

"Oh and Lois..." Lex said "...wear the necklace."

X-O-X-O-X-O-X

Clark had deliberated over the papers for a good long while. His chest hurt. If he was being honest with himself this was not what he wanted. In his mind's eye he replayed all the events that had led up to this moment, the moment in which he had come close to signing divorce paper from the only woman he had ever truly loved. The only woman he loved right now. Clark put his pen down and took a deep breath. He quickly grabbed his coat and left the quiet apartment, he had to see Lois one last time, just to let her know that he was prepared to fight for her, for them...

Clark rounded the corner of Lois's apartment. En route he had begged Pete to tell him Lois's new address. As he reached her floor he saw a familiar face. The face of his arch nemesis-Lex Luthor. Clark stopped in the shadows and watched Lois, who was dressed in a figure hugging couture dress and diamonds, lay a soft kiss on Lex's cheek, and then hug him. She stepped back and invited him into the apartment.

Clark couldn't believe what he was seeing and couldn't feel past the pain. He turned around, completely dejected and made his way home. Once inside his apartment he went over to the table, where familiar papers and a blue biro pen lay.

In one fell swoop Clark signed all four sheets of the divorce petition and immediately sealed the envelope. It was officially over.

Clark picked up his phone. "Hey Diana, wanna have dinner tomorrow?"If Lois could move on so soon, then so could he.

TBC

NB: Reviews, comments and feedback are very much appreciated.


	21. Chapter 21

XYK

**Chapter 22-** "Signed, sealed, delivered."

Lex stepped into Lois's apartment and looked around. It was nice and classic which didn't surprise him. He could hear Lana, who had entered the apartment just five minutes before he and Lois had, bustling about in the kitchen making their coffee.

Lois put her clutch purse down on the coffee table and slipped out of her black high heels. She gestured to Lex to sit down "Make yourself comfortable." She smiled as she walked into the kitchen and closed the door behind her.

"Thanks for stepping inside and giving us those five minutes."Lois said.

Lana had set out three mugs on a tray "Did you talk to him?" Asked Lana, as she poured coffee into each mug.

Lois exaggerated a sigh of relief "Yes. I think he understands the nature of our relationship. I told him that I wouldn't accept any more expensive gifts and that he was my boss."

Lana made a face that wasn't lost on Lois.

"Well you're the one who said we'd have dinner with him."Lois reminded her.

Lana made a guilty face and took out her dangly earrings "Yeah. Sorry about that. It's just that it's your birthday and as much as I love dancing to MJ,I didn't think we could miss out on a fancy meal at a swanky restaurant."

Lois held open the kitchen door for Lana who was carrying a full tray of steaming mugs of coffee and French biscuits.

Lana handed Lex his coffee and joined him on the sofa. Lois sat opposite on the _chaise lounge._

"Thank you for the lovely dinner." Lana smiled at Lex.

"No, Thank you." Lex said his grey eyes meeting Lana's flattered hazel ones "I was at a loose end tonight and you beautiful ladies did me a huge favour."

Lana blushed a little "You're welcome."

Was there a woman alive that Lex Luthor couldn't flatter or charm? Lois wondered to herself.

"So, Have you thought of a name for our new magazine?" Lex asked, turning his full attention to Lois.

"Lane."

"Lane?" Lana and Lex asked in unison.

Lois smiled. "Lane."

"As in Lois **Lane**?" Lana asked, laughing hysterically "Vanity. Much."

Lex had a critical look on his face. Lois could all but see the cogs turning in his brain. "Allow me to ask why."

"Well, Lane isn't only my surname.."Lois pulled a sarcastic face at her amused companions "...but it can also be defined as a well defined track or path. A direction or goals towards the future. We aren't just making a magazine, we are investing in the minds and future's of women not unlike myself who have had to fight and struggle to find their paths in life, and in some cases build their own."Lois exhaled deeply.

"Lane" Lex and Lana said in unison for the second time, only this time there wasn't a look of amusement or skeptism. On their faces was a look of agreement. They got it. Lois smiled victoriously.

"Lane Magazine." Lex said with a twinkle in his eye."I love it."

Lois took a sip of her coffee. "I knew you would."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The next morning Lois wrote up an itinerary of everything she had to do before the magazines unveiling to the press. She had four days and there was so much to be done. Lana had promised to help her with as much as possible before she had to head back to Washington DC, and for that Lois was eternally grateful.

First they were going to go to the Hospital to visit Durga and then they were going to find a dress and meet with the magazines newly acquired staff for an induction and prep talks. Lois was just waiting for Lana to finish in the shower and they'd be off...

There was a knock on the front door.

"Are you Lois Lane?" asked a courier, holding out an envelope.

"Yes" Lois took the pen handed to her and signed for the brown envelope. "Thanks." She closed her door and tore off the top of the envelope, and then pulled the hefty pile of papers out.

"Petition for divorce." Lois read aloud. Then re- read over and over again in her could feel her palms sweating.

_**BEEP BEEP.**_

Lois looked down at her Blackberry, it was her attorney Golda Wrexler of Crawford, Polinsky and Wrexler.

"Hi how are you?"

"Never better,Yourself?" a very chipper sounding Golda said from the other end of the phone line.

"Fine."Lois gave a cursory glance at the clock on her mantelpiece; she didn't have time for this. " can I help you,Golda?"

Golda Wrexler laughed "IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY TO GET A DIVORCE!"

Lois almost dropped her cellphone but caught it quickly. "Umm,what do you mean?"

"I don't normally work on Saturdays but my mother in Law's visiting us from Connecticut and she's driving me insane, so I thought I'd come down and sort through some paperwork..."

Lois impatiently tapped her fingers against her bookcase.

"Anyway, I get in here and laying on my desk is a signed divorce petition from your ex, no hassle and no fuss .He must want this divorce as much as you do." Golda cackled a jovial laugh.

Lois couldn't share in the glee.

Lois looked down at the divorce papers in her hand and felt silly. To think, she was having second thoughts when Clark clearly had none.

"And..",Golda continued "...you'll be happy to know that he is giving you everything you want in the settlement. Isn't that wonderful?"

He had asked for the divorce and she had set the wheels into motion by seeing her lawyers but nothing had prepared her for this. The agony was excruciating. "Yes. It's absolutely marvellous."

"So, all we need are your papers and I can file them first thing Monday morning." Golda rustled some papers about.

"I'll drop them off at your office immediately." Lois said "The sooner we end this, the better. Thanks Golda." She put her cell phone down.

Lois grabbed a pen from the coffee table and clunked to the carpet, and without reading through the divorce petition she signed all the necessary sheets. After she did that, she backed away from the coffee table ,breathed in and then breathed out. "Easier than I thought." She quietly said to herself.

TBC.

NB: Reviews, comments and feedback are very much appreciated.


	22. Chapter 22

XYK

**Chapter 22-** "Yawn"

Lois walked around the Cascade ballroom, the turnout had been amazing. She mingled with press, new staff and associates, as well as occasionally posing for the odd photo. On the horizon she could see Lex doing the same; only his repertoire involved much more flirtation. Lois shook her head knowingly and smiled to herself. She declined an _hor d'oeuvre_ offered to her to by the catering staff. She couldn't eat, she was too nervous. Before tonight the magazine had just been a concept, now it was palpable and she was running the show. Lois made a few rounds of the room until she came across a familiar sight that took her breath away.

There stood Clark, looking devilishly handsome in a made to measure tuxedo that she'd never seen before. Lois couldn't help but stare, he was beautiful. And so beautifully unaware of all the women watching him, silently wishing that he was their date.

He was standing by himself reading a mock first edition of the 'Lane' magazine. He wasn't aware of Lois watching him; he was far too engrossed in the mock up. Lois's heart skipped a beat, she didn't want to admit it to herself but she had hoped he'd come, and there he was, probably under some kind of reporter duress if she knew Perry White ,but that didn't matter, not tonight. Lois smiled a wide toothy uncontrollable smile.

She hadn't noticed she was staring in his direction until she heard a loud cough rubbing on her sub conscience and knocking her out of her reverie. Lois turned to see who was vying for her attention; it was Chloe holding two flutes of champagne. She handed one to Lois and took a sip from the other.

"You've done good, Cuz."Chloe smiled good naturedly.

Lois smiled at her cousin. "Thanks." They hadn't addressed their last arguments, but instead had opted for stilted pleasantries. "I'm glad you could make it tonight."

"I'm your cousin and I love you. I'll always support you" Chloe lowered her voice "Doesn't mean that I'll always understand, and I think Lex Luthor is a bona fide cretin..." Chloe shuddered, then took another sip of wine. "Is that Suzanne Chin from Marie Claire?"

Lois looked over and nodded.

"I loved her piece on Date rape last month. I'm going to go and talk to her. Do you mind?"

Lois shook her head "No.." Lois watched her cousin go over to Suzanne Chin and introduce herself.

Clark looked up and spotted Lois. Their eyes locked for what seemed like an eternity. Lois didn't know whether to wave or look away. Instead she settled for a small nod of acknowledgement, Clark followed suite and did the same.

Clark was almost knocked out from the sight of her. She seemed to shimmer in her sparkling strapless red dress, and crimson lipstick. She took his breath away. Was it possible that he'd forgotten how beautiful Lois Lane was? No. But it hurt to have a devastating reminder.

Clark was knocked out of his thoughts by a soft hand on his elbow. Diana Prince had arrived and joined his side.

From across the room Lois felt her stomach drop and bile begin to rise in the back of her throat. She looked away and summoned the drive to make small talk with some east coast PR agents.

Clark turned to Diana.

"Sorry I'm late." She apologised. "You would not believe the traffic."

"When in Rome..."Clark joked, alluding to a conversation they'd had on the night of the first fire.

Diana's eyes twinkled with recognition "Exactly."

Diana stepped back and let Clark appraise her choice of outfit. The baby blue silk, short sleeved dress matched her eyes and made for an attractive sight. Her hair was in an chignon and in her ears, she wore aquamarine studs.

"You look absolutely amazing." Clark said sincerely.

Diana lit up like a Christmas tree. "Thank you."She blushed slightly. "I hoped you'd like it."

From the corner of the packed ballroom Lois tried to watched the two from the corner of her eyes, Lois couldn't believe that he had brought a date, on her territory. She was seething with anger. The ink was still wet on their divorce petition. Lois downed the rest of her champagne and grabbed another one from a passing waiter. She downed it in one gulp. "Excuse me." She said to the PR agents and exited to the balcony. Where she stood looking out at Metropolis's sprawling night skyline, praying to God to keep her anger in check and for the will to not break down.

"I'll go get us some drinks." Clark said to Diana.

Diana picked up a magazine mock up "Sure." She smiled.

"You brought a date?" Chloe asked incredulously. Slowly saddling up to her best friend at the bar.

"It's nice to see you too,Chlo." Clark said

Chloe either didn't hear his statement or just chose to ignore it because she asked her question again. "You brought a date?"

"No Chlo- I brought my friend who just happened to be free tonight."

Chloe looked over at Diana Prince who was now in deep conversation with another guest "Well, it looks like a date to me."

"Well, it's not."Clark said through clenched teeth.

Chloe looked up at him and tilted her head towards Diana "Does she know that?"

Clark ignored Chloe's question. "How long are you back for?"

Chloe shook her head but answered his question anyway. "Three whole days."

Diana came over to join the old friends, Chloe cordially extended her hand"Lovely to meet you." The two women exchanged smiles and shook hands.

Diana suddenly looked distracted. Clark could tell that she was tuning into below frequency sound waves,so low that even he couldn't hear them.

"An emergency?" Clark whispered.

Diana nodded. "I should go,I'm needed."

"Let's do this." Clark said,ready to adjust into superhero mode.

Diana put her arm out to stop Clark. "You're at work,I can handle this one on my own."

"Are you sure?" Clark gently touched her arm.

"Yes."Diana smiled,pecked Clark on the cheek then hurried out of the ballrooms entrance without looking back.

As the night wound down, Chloe decided that she could no longer fight the jetlag and needed to retire to her hotel room but promised Lois that they'd meet up for brunch in the morning.

Lex had also disappeared. You didn't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that he'd probably disappeared to some luxury suite with one of the models floating about.

At the back of the ballroom was a 6ft mock up of 'Lane's' first front cover, everybody had been invited to sign it. Clark hadn't had the chance earlier but he figured he should before he left.

The Initial front cover had five very different women, ranging from 25-40 years old. Each was a different race, religion and creed but all were united by their seeming intelligence, vivaciousness, successfulness _and joie de vivre_-everything Lois wanted the magazine to depict. In bold white letters read 'Lane'.

Clark smiled. He liked the name of the new magazine, it made sense. It had Lois written all it. He spotted Lois standing nearby chatting to a petite raven haired beauty.

"...Well its good luck. You have to keep it, Lois." The young woman said "It's your first front cover. Plus everyone's signed it."

"Oh...But it's huge." Lois said. "I have no idea how I'm going to get this thing home, or where I'd put it once I got it there. Besides I came by cab..."

"I can help." Clark stepped forward "I have my truck with me."

Lois looked up at Clark, surprised, she hadn't realised that he was still floating around. She'd seen Diana leave in a hurry on what was most likely some Superhero business and assumed that he'd followed, "I wouldn't want you to go out of your way."

"It's not." He lifted the miniature billboard mock up of Lane magazines front cover and manoeuvred past the last of the viewing parties' guests. Lois had no choice but to follow him through the lobby, down the stairs to the underground parking. Clark opened his truck and positioned the billboard.

"It fits."Lois said with a smile.

Clark didn't say anything but went over to the passenger side of his car and held the door open for Lois. He was a gentleman, right up until the end, something Lois had always loved about him.

"I don't know your address," Clark lied "you'll have to direct me."Clark added,strapping his seat belt on.

No effort was made on either part to make conversation,except for Lois's directions. Once at her apartment building,Lois lead the way until they reached her door. She opened up and side stepped,allowing Clark in first.

"Where do you want it?"

Lois put her keys down. "Just lean it against the wall, thanks."

Clark did as he was told. Once he had put the huge board down he realised that there was nothing to hide behind and the awkwardness set in. He looked around Lois's apartment. He was impressed; it was nothing like what had been theirs. The decor was all white, stilted –classy but cold.

So unlike Lois,he thought.

At the thought of him leaving, something compelled Lois to stop him. "Would you like a coffee?"

Clark was uncertain, he made a face.

"C'mon , it's the least I can do. You saved me from a lot of hassle tonight."

Deep down he had known that he hadn't wanted to leave. Despite his unfamiliar surroundings, Lois still felt like home to him. "Sure."

After coffees were made, the two sat and drank them in awkward conversations about Durga's wellbeing, and the sound of Lois blowing over the hot coffee to cool it down. Once drank, Lois yawned and reclined in her seat,it had been one hell of a day and finally the adrenaline was lowering. She slowly closed her eyes letting sleep claim her. Clark watched her, he reprimanded himself for not leaving but something magnetic held him to the spot he was seated in, and before he knew it, he too had reclined in his seat and was slowly closing his eyes.

TBC.

NB: Reviews, comments and feedback are very much appreciated.


	23. Chapter 23

**XYK**

**Chapter 23- "Friends."**

They were awoken simultaneously by a loud roll of thunder, followed by a dazzling display of lightning. Lois shot up like someone had just stepped on her, she immediately covered her ears with her hands.

"Just what Metropolis needs to break the stifling heat" Clark said staring out of a window. He stood up and put on his jacket "I've stayed too long, I should go.." He turned to Lois who had gone a deadly shade of white.

"Lois, You're shaking." He said concerned, he had almost forgotten that his brazen little Lois had always been afraid of Lightning, it was her very own Kryptonite-the only thing that could defeat her, in the old days this was were he would have gently picked her up, and carried her through to the bedroom, slowly undressed them both,lay her down and softly caress her body all the while whispering promises of his love and protection through the nights onslaught, but those days were long gone. "You need some scotch. Do you have any?"

Lois just shook her head, silence except for the chattering of her teeth, and the violent night skies.

"I'll go get some " He made a movement. "I'll be a second."

"NO!"Lois protested "Please -don't leave me."

Clark looked at Lois, Lois looked at Clark and for a brief moment silent memories of their intense stormy night love making sessions passed between them. Clark shook them away. "I'll stay until the storms over."

Lois nodded gratefully.

"Why don't you go get into bed ,I'll be right here if you need me."

"No.I'll stay here,with you."She jumped as another whirling bang reverberated from the heavens. "…on the sofa." Said Lois,sitting up as rigid as a board.

Clark couldn't help but grin. "You look real comfortable,Lo.C'mon be a good girl and do as you're told for a change."

Lois didn't budge,nor did she say a word.

"I promise I won't leave." Without further ado,he picked her up effortlessly and stood for a moment as she lay in his arms,looking deep into the swiling hazel pools of her eyes.

"I'll sit right by you on the bed and hold your hand."

Lois nodded gratefully,happy for the fact that he wasn't leaving. Clark carried her into the bedroom,sat her down on the bed and knelt to take off her shoes.

"Now get undressed.I won't look."He said turning around.

Lois wiggled out of her dress and chucked it over his head and across the room. Clark smiled to himself over Lois's blatant disregard for etiquette and expensive clothing.

Lois put on a large MET U t-shirt,normally she didn't bother wearing anything but today was different. Clark untucked the covers.

"In you get."He said,pulling the sheet over her and sitting on the edge of her new ,unfamiliar bed .She looked so small,lying there by herself.

"Now go to sleep.I won't leave."

He must be certifiable,he reflected,sitting up here holding his soon to be ex-wife's hand instead of....But she looked all of 15 years old,wide eyed and absolutely terrified as the storm unleashed another attack- he reasoned that when the storm stopped,however long it took,he'd immediately leave.

Mortified at her own cowardice,Lois lay in the dark helplessly,clutching his strong arm like a life buoy .She looked up at Clarks silhouette in the dark,his shiny black hair reflecting the moon,his broad back a shield from the elements torment.

"Smallville."She heard herself say "You'll get cold."

"Lois,I don't get cold."

"You can't just sit up like that all night."

"Try me."

"I'll be fine now,promise."She protested,only to immediately dive under the covers as ligtning tore through the sky with a large bang,illuminating the night skies and herbedroom.

"Sure,you'll be fine." he laughed "OK if I go now?"

Lois peeped out form under the sheet,her voice muffled under the covers,he didn't need his super hearing to hear her say "You can share my bed,If you want."She sat up "You might as well,it's not like we've never shared a bed before,you'd be comfortable and at least you could sleep."

Comfortable,she had to be kidding,As for sleep…

"Sure." He tried indifference and before she got a chance to change his mind he began to undress,slowly folding his clothes as he did Lois buried her face in her pillow as she felt the bed move under his familiar weight.

"Goodnight "said Clark ,reaching behind him for her hand. he kept his back to her,turning around would be too risky,they had both vowed to move on.

"Good night Clark,and….Thanks."she murmered holding onto his hand,until gradually her grip slackened and fear gave way to sleep.

That night was the most acutely erotic experience of Clarks life. her scent,her nearness,her warmth,and the sound of her heartbeat all felt so familiar but so foreign. how he fell asleep himself he did not know ,and hours later he awoke to a sunny Metropolis morning. Lois was standing over him,still in her huge night shirt and shyly offered him a cup of coffee. Clark sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes.

"What time is it?"He asked sleepily,suddenly remembering where he was and why he was.

"Eight a.m." she said,averting her eyes as he stretched his beautiful muscular torso and ran his fingers through hair tousled from sleep. she'd almost forgotten how beautiful Clark looked first thing .Lois waited whilst he drank his coffee.

"Thanks for staying last night.I really appreciate it." She said awkwardly "You're a real…"She couldn't find the right words "…friend." Of course she regretted her choice of words the moment she said them. They weren't friends,well,not anymore.

Clark paused, he too had noticed, "My Pleasure,Lois." He said dryly.

**TBC.**

**NB: Reviews, comments and feedback are very much appreciated.**


	24. Chapter 24

**XYK **

**Chapter 24- "Onwards and upwards..."**

Clark had gotten dressed and bid Lois an awkward goodbye.

As Lois closed the door she leaned against it and closed her eyes. Casting her mind back to the previous night, when he had been lying there besides her-warm and inviting. Although she had fallen asleep before him, she had awoken several times throughout the night, and watched his sleeping form. She had wanted him to hold her, to let her curl up to him, entwine her legs with his and rest her head on his chest. She had wanted him to slowly rub circles into her back and lay a kiss on her neck. Then she'd wanted to find his lips in the dark and kiss and suck them slowly as he slowly awakened from sleep....Lois opened her eyes and sighed. It occurred to her on a daily basis that she missed him. She wondered if she'd ever get over him, if the pain would ever dull.

Clark walked to his truck and threw his dinner jacket nonchalantly to the passenger seat.

It had taken him hours to fall asleep next to Lois._Hours_.He had tried counting backwards, he'd even tried counting invisible sheep but to no avail. He had wanted to grab her to him and spoon, inhaling her scent and maybe even her breathe as she turned to face him in sleep. And the erotic dreams...he wanted the dreams to stop,dreams that were magnified by her physical presence. If he was going to maintain his sanity then he needed the dreams to stop. The dreams where he and his soon to be ex-wife where locked in physical rapture-hot, sweaty and primal. Arid cries of pleasure and pain .Clark couldn't go on like this, he shook the thoughts away. He had to expel Lois from his body, heart, mind and soul but he missed her. He missed their lovemaking, yes. But most of all he missed their laughter, the conversations, he missed their work partnership but most of all he missed their friendship-when Lois had called him a 'friend' that morning it had hurt because they were no longer friends and as far as he could tell, they never would be again. He couldn't only have half of her. Anything less than all of Lois Lane would hurt like hell.

Clark put the key into the ignition and set off home.

**----**

**Ring Ring**

Lois wrapped a towel around her and ran to pick up her phone.

"We're still on for brunch, right?" Chloe asked.

"Hey Chloe! Yes, we are." Lois tightened the towel.

"Good."Chloe yawned over the phone "Did you hear the thunder last night? It was insane."

Lois flushed "yeah.I slept right through.."

"Good....so, I'll pick you up in half an hour?" Chloe asked. Lois took a cursory glance over at the clock on her mantle piece and ran a hand through her wet hair.

"See you then." She put her phone down and went to find her hair dryer.

----

Clark got home and dropped his keys on the coffee table. The light flashing on his answering machine alerted him to the fact that he had messages. He hit the '_play_' button then headed to the fridge. He opened the fridge, only to be met by a mouldy block of cheese, an empty milk carton and what appeared to be one of Lois's old nail polish pots.

**_"Hey Clark, This is Diana. I'm not doing anything this morning, and the weather forecast says it's going to be a great day, so if you wanna hang out, go get brunch or whatever, just call me when you get up...ok. Bye."_**

Suddenly Diana's suggestion of going out for brunch didn't seem like a bad idea. Clark picked up the phone and dialled Diana's number.

---

Lois sat opposite Chloe and couldn't remember when she had laughed so much. Looking around the terrace of the small French patisserie they'd chosen to eat at, _"What do you say, that after this we go for a stroll in the park?..It's a beautiful day."Lois asked._

"Sure."Chloe smiled at her cousin as she took a bite from her _tarte aux fruits. "Yum..."_

Lois took a sip of her _cafe au lait _before dunking a piece of_ brioche _into it. "Yum,right back at ya!"

---

Diana and Clark sat on the grassy bank over by the huge lake in Metropolis Centennial Park. They watched kids feed the swans as they ate their take away waffles and freshly squeezed orange juices.

A little girl walked by with big red ribbons in her hair, holding on to an ice cream cone almost as big as her. Diana stared lustfully at the sprinkled cone.

Clark laughed "You want one?"

"No. I don't..." Diana licked the remaining syrup off one of her fingers. "I'm watching my weight."

Clark stood up and threw his garbage into the nearest bin "Up!" he commanded to his companion.

As they made their way through the crowd towards the ice cream vendor, Clark gently took Diana's hand in his. "C'mon I'll buy you some Ice cream."

Diana smiled, "Two scoops."

"You can have anything you want."

"I hope so..."Diana said quietly, revelling in the feel of his hand in hers.

Chloe and Lois strolled easily around the park, making way for joggers and kids on bikes and rollerblades. They chit chatted about the magazine, Lucy's latest adventures and Chloe's latest love affair. As they walked past a bench, a group of teenage girls sprung up, each carrying a different flavour ice cream cone.

"Ooh..."Lois said clapping her hands together "Ice cream would be perfect right now, wouldn't it?"

"No. I'm watching my figure."Chloe falsely protested. "I can't...we just had brunch."

Lois stopped walking "I liked you better when you were chubby."

Chloe pretended to karate kick her cousin, "I was never 'chubby'. I was fabulous, just like I am now."

"C'mon, the ice cream cart's just over the hill." Lois playfully pulled Chloe along. The two women giggling as they went.

----

"Are you making fun of me, Mr Kent?" Diana Prince asked. Her ice cream poised to do some damage.

"No."Laughed Clark "All I said was that you looked like you were enjoying that ice cream."

As quick as a cat Diana grabbed Clark and dunked his face into her ice cream cone. Diana started to laugh so hard she nearly doubled over to the amusement of a couple of middleschoolers hanging around sipping on Fanta's and Coca cola's.

Clark laughed and automatically scooped Diana up.

"Put me down!" Diana laughed.

"Nope."Clark laughed, spinning her around. He managed to grab what was left of her mangled ice cream and smothered it on the tip of her nose. Diana squealed "Not fair!"

Clark set Diana down and struck a pseudo victorious pose, high fiving the laughing kids around them. Diana still smiling reached into her pocket and pulled out some tissue, she wiped her face off and began to wipe off Clarks .Their eyes locked and for a second a consummate understanding passed between the two, the mood had changed. The air becoming static and charged. Before either of them knew it, their lips were tentatively touching.

--------

Chloe hadn't put up much of a struggle when Lois had suggested going over the hill to find the ice cream vendor. Lois stopped talking and walking, her gaze frozen at something in front of her. Her brain rapidly trying to process what her eyes were seeing.

Chloe stopped talking and followed Lois's gaze .To her amazement she saw Clark and Diana Prince locked in an embrace. A very public embrace.

Lois felt her blood boiling, she felt dizzy and nauseous, then she couldn't breathe and before she could collect her thoughts she just felt angry. Lois turned herself around and started to march back up the hill that they'd previously struggled over. "Let's give the ice cream a miss."

"Lois are you OK?'

"Never better." She barked at her cousin.

Chloe ran to match her cousins' speed "You don't look OK."

Lois plastered on a fake grin. "Drop it Chloe!" Lois lane was no actress. "I'm fine."

"So you keep saying."Chloe threw her hands up in the air, and decided to leave the subject alone. "I'm here if you need to talk."

"He's moved on, so I can move on....onwards and upwards, right?" Lois's voice cracked and betrayed her at every turn. "Let's just forget it."

Chloe nodded. She only had two more days left in Metropolis before she had to fly back to London and the last thing that she wanted to do was spend them arguing with her fragile cousin. Chloe linked arms with her cousin as they made their way through the throng of people enjoying the Sunday sunshine.

The mood was sombre as they made their way out of the Park's entrance gate. Lois's Blackberry began to vibrate. She reached into her handbag and pulled it out, she didn't recognise the number.

"Hello. Mrs Lane?" asked a chirpy voice from the other end.

Lois rolled her eyes,"_**Ms**_ Lane."

"This is _Opal Baker_ from Metropolis Social Services. I'm phoning with regards to Baby Durga, who is currently a ward of the state of Kansas..."

Lois's heart began to beat rapidly as she imagined all sorts of horrific episodes, "Durga! What's happened? Where is she? Is something wrong!?"

"No. Ms Lane please try and calm down; I assure you she is fine..." Said Opal Baker, the tone of reassurance on her voice "...this is just a courtesy call to let you know that Durga is being moved from the Hospital into The Metropolis City Orphanage until further notice."

"She can't go to an orphanage! Those places are awful."Lois stood indignant, rolling her eyes at Chloe who stood at her side intently waiting to be filled in.

"We haven't found any family willing to house her. There are no other alternatives Ms Lane.." replied Opal Baker.

"There are alternatives..."Lois took a deep breath "I want her! I want to adopt her..."

TBC.


	25. Chapter 25

**XYK **

**Chapter ****25- "Baby making."**

"**ARSONISTS STRIKE AGAIN**!" "**ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER BURNING BUILDING**." Read the day's headlines. Lois paid the vendor and picked up her newspapers. She rolled up the newspapers she'd just bought and placed them under her arm as she hailed a cab. Once home she set down her folders and brief case and slipped off her very expensive high heeled shoes. She poured herself a drink then dialled her favourite Indian take away. Tonight, she ordered the usual. Lois wasn't much of a cook, even less so now that it was just her.

Lois gathered her paper work and settled down. She had a lot to get through. She had applied for a police check, which wouldn't take too long to go through, but now she had to apply for adoption and anticipate a series of interviews and rigorous checks from social services-which would undoubtedly take a while, so in the meantime Lois was applying for residency permit, the type that would make her Durga's foster parent in the interim, until Durga was officially Durga Lane. Lois smiled to herself. The thought made her heart melt...the possibility was within reach. After so much darkness lay a flicker of light...

The sound of the doorbell knocked Lois out of her trance.

Lois grabbed her purse, expecting to see the delivery boy. Instead, much to her surprise stood Clark.

"What are you doing here, Clark?"

"Can I come in?"

Lois looked puzzled but stepped to the side anyway. Clark entered the apartment almost wearily, hunched over and dragging his feet.

Clark didn't sit down. Instead he stood in the middle of the living room and looked at Lois intently, before saying, "Chloe tells me that you're thinking of adopting Durga."

Lois shook her head; she could not believe that Chloe would spread her private matters around "It really wasn't Chloe's place to tell you."

"Well, you didn't tell me." Clark said, almost accusatorily.

"Well, I didn't think it was any of your business." Lois shot back, her voice raising half an octave.

Clark clenched his teeth. A minute passed, the air now thick with tension. Clark cleared his throat. "Do you really think this is the right time to be considering adoption?"

"Yes."Lois rolled her eyes. "What are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say that maybe you haven't thought this through..."Clark stood firm "You've been through a lot recently and, let's be honest, not all your decisions have been.."

Lois began to get defensive "Have been, what!?" She put her hands on her hips, preparing for battle.

"Rational." Clark said with shocking finality.

Lois gasped. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. The audacity of the man standing in her home, telling her that she wasn't capable of reasonable thought. Who did he think he was? She was a grown adult, and sure she had made some mistakes in the past, ones that she regretted, ones that she was still paying for but Lois Lane was without an iota of doubt,positively certain that she had enough love and sufficient resources to raise a child. The fact that Clark seemed to question her abilities reached down and touched the small dank place within her soul where all her hidden fear and doubts resided. It hurt.

Clark was unyielding in his diatribe"Lois, Don't use Durga to fill the hole our baby left."

"IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK I'M DOING!?"

Clark nodded. "Yes. I still think you have unresolved issues and to drag an innocent baby into them would be unfair."

"Thank You .."Lois could feel tears that she'd long tried to suppress working their way up to her emotional surface. She didn't want to crumble, she didn't want Clark to be right, so she did the only thing she knew how to do-she attacked "...The only unresolved issue I have here is YOU!"Lois stepped a little closer to Clark " Stay out of my business, stay out of my Life!"

Clark didn't know what hurt him more, Lois's blind indifference and denial to his theory of replacement or the fact that she was starting a family, their family...No, he reprimanded himself. HER family- without him. "How would you do it?"

"I'd be a single mother Clark. Women do it all the time." Lois turned her back on Clark and sat down on her sofa. She could feel a migraine coming on.

Clark stood strong "But it's not ideal."

"Well, it's the only option that I've got." Lois spat."It's Alright for you! You and Diana can go and make as many babies as you want."

"What?" Clark asked incredulously. His mind hummed, _where had that come from?_

Lois paused and bit her lip. She hadn't intended to say that, "Clark, I'm 35 years old. It may never happen for me. There is a beautiful baby girl who is in danger of being thrown on the scrap heap..."

"...No..." Clark interrupted ".... Rewind to the part about me and Diana making babies."

"I always say what I mean. You heard correct."Lois looked at Clark, so much pain passed between them that it held them incapacitated. Lois gaged from the look in his eyes that he didn't know what she was talking about, so she continued "I guess the Doc hasn't told you. You can have kids, biological kids as long as they're with someone who is strong enough to have them..."Lois voice trailed off.

Clark stayed silent because what he really wanted to say was '_I don't want a baby if it isn't with you_.' But somehow he couldn't make the words.

Silence fell upon them. Both Clark and Lois wondered how they had gotten here...to the point of no return: the barrage of Angry looks, mean words, unsaid sentiments and enough hurt to fill a gully.

The door bell rang. Lois jumped up, happy for the distraction. She brushed past Clark and opened the door. She paid and tipped the delivery boy then closed the door. She hesitated before turning around, she knew Clark would be watching her and unlike all the years they'd been married, she wouldn't be able to read his mind. A tear began to roll down her cheek, she was drained..

"Lois.." Clark said in a softer tone. He stepped forward and gently wiped her tear.

Lois tried to brush him off "I'm done talking. My Chicken Tikka masala is getting cold."She barged passed him. Take away parcel in her hand and straight into the kitchen. Clark heard her rattle around for plates and cutlery. He wasn't certain that she'd ever reappear, so he went and stood in the arch of the kitchen doorway.

"Be happy for me Clark."Lois said, almost imploringly.

"I want to be."Clark's voice broke.

"Don't you see, you can get the family you've always dreamed of and I can get mine."

Clark was wounded. Just like that he had been brought back down to earth. Lois was his soon to be ex-wife. Any day now their legal tie would be severed, too bad his heart still hadn't gotten the memo. Clark turned to leave Lois's apartment.

"I saw you..."Lois couldn't help but shout out. The words stopped Clark in his tracks "Last Sunday I saw you and her.." Clark didn't need to ask for specifics, he knew exactly what Lois was referring to.

"You look good together. You and her make sense, you always did." Lois took a sip of what appeared to be juice.

"Don't..." Clark turned around, fear and apology in his eyes.

"I hope you have a wonderful life together." Lois interjected.

"Stop it!" Clark yelled "It's not..."

"Just go Clark, Go home to Diana." Lois took a bite of her food. She continued to eat as if he wasn't there. When he finally turned around to leave it was a relief. Because then she wouldn't have to get angry and scream ,she wouldn't have to cry, she wouldn't have to let him know that seeing him with Diana Prince had broken her heart in a way that she wasn't sure was fixable.

Lois let the sound of her beating heart reverberate in her ears as she waited for the bang indicating that Clark had opened and closed her front door and finally vacated her apartment.

Lois had lost her appetite. She pushed her plate away with one shaky hand and bent down to steady herself. It was then that Lois Lane was hit with nausea-she quickly raced to the bathroom where she was violently, spectacularly sick all over her tiled floor.

TBC.


	26. Chapter 26

**XYK**

**Chapter 26 – ****The Homecoming**

Lois screamed in frustration and tossed her cell phone across her beautiful office. It hit a potted plant that wobbled once, twice then fell over, allowing all the potted soil to spill out onto her varnished wooden floor. Lois cursed to herself and rubbed her head. _The migraines_. Lois reached into her draw and pulled out a packet of Panadol. She poured herself a glass of water and swallowed the pills down.

She should have been celebrating -mid month figures had suggested that _Lane Magazine_ was out- selling its competition by 2-1._Marie Claire, Cosmo, Glamour, Harpers Bazaar_ were eating _Lane's_ dust but Lois could not bring herself to go out and celebrate with the rest of her young, inspired and overly anxious staff. Instead she was sat in her office on the brink of tears and the verge of despair.

There was a knock on her door. Lois immediately sat up and quickly tried to fix her hair. "Come in."She had assumed that she was the only one left in the office, but she was clearly mistaken.

Her door opened and in walked Lex Luthor, a half smile on his face and an expensive suit on his torso.

"What are you still doing here? I thought you'd be out celebrating." Lex elegantly sat down on the seat opposite Lois's.

"Lex, I'm not in the mood."Lois tucked some files into an open draw .A stale cup of coffee was knocked off of the edge of her desk.

"Damn it! Nothing ever goes my way!"Lois wailed and dropped to the floor to mop up the coffee stain seeping into her new carpet.

Lex who was momentarily taken aback by her reaction leaned down to help "Lois, it's alright. I'll get one of my assistants to call a cleaner."

Lois stopped mopping frantically and relaxed on her heels. "Sorry, it's not that ..."

"What is it?" Lex asked, honest concern in his eyes.

"I've been feeling like crap all week, and..."Lois threw her arms up in the air "I just got a call from social services, they have reservations about me adopting Durga...I may have one or two blemishes on my record ....nothing serious."

Lex gave Lois a sceptical look.

"Just a few counts of breaking and entering.."

"..and?"

Lois winced"...Damage to private and public property."

Lex almost laughed. He probably would have, had he not seen the look on Lois's face.

"HEY! I WAS AN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER; I DID WHAT I HAD TO DO!!!" Lois ardently tried to defend herself against what she perceived to be criticism.

Lex stood up,"Get your things. I'm taking you out to dinner."

"No..I'm not in the mood." Lois stood up and dusted herself off.

"C'mon...You look like you could do with a stiff drink." Lex smiled "...and someone to talk to. I don't bite."

Lois thought about the offer for a second then reached over and switched off her computer, grabbed her bag and took Lex's hand when he offered it.

-x-x-x-x-

In an expensive French restaurant Lois recounted all her past sins and misdemeanours to Lex Luthor, who much to her surprise was a good listener and didn't seem to judge.

"Don't judge me. I'm an investigative reporter...."Lois paused "I mean I WAS an investigative reporter."

"You miss it?"

Lois thought for a minute._ She did_. "No." She lied. "This is my life and I couldn't be happier."

"Yet you still want that orphan."

"I just want something to give my life purpose." Lois stared down at the plate of food she had yet to touch "It can't all be champagne parties and sleeping with models."

"_Touchez_" Lex said "You're serious about adopting this rugrat, huh?" Lex took a sip from his brandy glass.

Lois nodded.

"You think you can give her a good home?"

"I know I can."

"hmm "Lex sat back pensively watching Lois pick at her food.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The rest of Lois's work week went surprisingly well. She liked being busy it gave her mind plenty of chances to occupy itself outside the realms of her love life, or lack of.

The fight for Durga wasn't over. Lois had decided that she would have to beg and ring in every favour that she was owed, maybe even get a lawyer. She promised herself that she would do all of that just as soon as she figured out what was making her feel so lethargic lately. The dizzy spells, the vomiting, the mood swings, the lack of energy all pointed to one thing...Lois wouldn't let her mind wonder that far.

On her lunch break Lois wondered down to the nearest pharmacy and surveyed every aisle, she grabbed at panadol, nausea tablets, hot water bottles, ice packs and vitamin tablets until she reached aisle number paused. There she stood in front of the prophylactics ,lubricants, spermicides and pregnancy tests. Lois looked around, then quickly grabbed two pregnancy testing kits. She breathed a sigh of relief that there didn't appear to be anybody around, well ,not anybody that she knew anyway. She turned towards the checkout counter but doubled back and grabbed two more pregnancy tests for good measure. Stuffing them into her basket she made her way out of the aisle

After work Lois followed the same ritual of curling up on the sofa, pressing the remote control 'on', and mindlessly flicking through channel after channel after channel. It wasn't until a pampers diaper commercial appeared that she remembered the brown paper package in her handbag. She doubted that she was pregnant, she couldn't see herself going through everything she'd been through before, but Lois had to be sure.

She ripped it open and out came four grabbed them and headed to the she had peed on the sticks she lay them out on toilet paper and peered down at her instructions said that the results would take between 4 -6 washed her hands and began to chew nervously on her finger nails.

Suddenly ,There was a knock on her front door. Lois jumped. She stopped pacing and tugged and straightened her hurried to the door,she wasn't expecting any visitors.

"LEX!" Lois squeeled. "What are you doing here?"

"I have a surprise for you. Close your eyes and hold out your hands."

Lois wasn't sure what to searched lex's face for some kind of clue but got absolutely ,Lois closed her eyes and held out her could hear Lex move and rummage around.

Lex carefully deposited his surprise in her arms.

Lois looked down at the sleeping infant in her arms, then back up at Lex. "How did you..?"

"I know a guy, who knows a guy, who has a cousin who works for social services and owes me a favour."Lex winked at Lois and side stepped into her wheeled in Durga's new state of the art stroller.

Lois began to tear up,tightly clutching Durga, she managed to fling herself into Lex's unexpectant arms. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."She repeated over and over again, squeezing him tight.

Although the flagrant display of gratitude had caught Lex off guard he was surprised at how easily he relished the feeling of Lois Lane in his arms. Lois kissed each of Lex's cheeks, as Lex move his head to make a smart remark Lois accidentally caught him on the lips. Lex paused and so did Lois.

Lois heard her doorbell ring and wondered who it could be. She extricated herself from Lex's embrace and handed the baby to Lex who for a moment looked all too uncertain of holding a squirming baby in his expensively clad arms.

Lois squealed excitedly, smiled and took a step back into the apartment to allow her guest in.

"Martha."Lex nodded his head in recognition of the matriarch he had once known.

Martha smiled. It was a smile that didn't quite meet her eyes. "Lex." If she was surprised at his presence Martha didn't let on.

Lois could sense the tension in the air. There was no love lost between the pair, and although both were too polite to be overt about it, it was all too easy to sense the discomfort.

"I should go." Said Lex, breaking the tense silence that had settled on the room. Martha almost visibly exhaled.

"Call me." He whispered to Lois as he passed her by and handed the baby to her.

Lois simply smiled and nodded. "Will do."

The exchange wasn't lost on Martha who didn't know what to make of it, but quickly turned away and took off her coat.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The two women sat at the Kitchen table cooing over the baby and Martha shared her child rearing experience and Lois ate it all up. No matter what happened between her and Clark she would always consider Martha her mother in law.

Martha gently rocked Durga, who was slowly sucking on a pacifier and twiddling Martha's necklace in her small chubby brown hands.

"She's so beautiful." Martha said, looking up from the bundle of joy in her lap.

Lois nodded and poured her mother in law some tea.

"Sorry I haven't been around sooner, but it'll be fall before you know it and you know how long harvest preparation takes."

Lois smiled "It's fine, I've been pretty busy."

"So I've been told." Martha reached for Lois's hand "How have you been, honey? I mean, really."

"Absolutely fine."

"Don't give me that. I'm not buying it."Martha scolded Lois, "I ask Clark the same thing and all I get is 'Fine'."

Lois took a sip of tea.

"He still loves you and you..."Martha looked searchingly into Lois's eyes "...you still love him. Tell me I'm wrong."

Lois felt a lump in her throat, she looked away and tried not to cry .She had no words.

"You know Jonathan and I came close to separating...."Martha kissed Durga's forehead .

Lois looked at Martha in astonishment. Jonathan and Martha had always seemed so indestructible, the perfect picture of marital bliss, she couldn't ever imagine them going through what she and Clark were going through.

Martha nodded her head "Yes, miscarriages will do that to you."

Lois gasped, she'd never known.

"It was me with the problems, not Jonathan-he was fit and healthy, it was me who was barren. He could have been a father, I pushed him away, tried to make him see sense and go find somebody who could give him babies but he wouldn't go, no matter how much I cried, begged, cursed and pleaded, he just wouldn't leave me."Martha reminisced with a smile on her face "..and I thank God that he didn't."

Lois smiled sadly, the story sounded all too familiar.

"Because Clark came along..."Martha smiled down at durga "...and we got our happy ending."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Lucy, you're back?" Clark smiled at his diminutive sister in Law and hugged had been awhile since he'd seen her.

Lucy hugged Clark back "Yes. It's just a pit stop though; I'm heading to Brazil next week for the _Silvio Moraes_ ad campaign."

Lucy brushed past Clark and stepped into the dark apartment; she reached for the light switch and flipped it on.

"Clark, you have a hole in your wall."Lucy put her bag down and peered through the face sized hole "Why do you have a hole in your wall?"

Clarks mind wondered back to the night that he and Lois had their last passionate encounter; the same night that Lois had left her wedding ring and keys. Just as Clark was about to answer with an appropriate lie, the bathroom door opened and out stepped a tall brunette with shower slickened hair, wrapped in only a white fluffy towel. She certainly wasn't her sister.

Lucy looked suspiciously from Clark to the beautiful brunette"...and where the hell is my Sister?"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Martha handed Durga back to Lois. "I'm just going to the bathroom."

Lois nodded "It's the third door to your left."

Martha got up and began to make her way to the bathroom, when suddenly Lois remembered the pregnancy tests that she had left laying out. Lois quickly deposited Durga carefully into her stroller and quickly raced to the bathroom, just as the door closed. Lois silently cursed to herself. _Damn..._

The bathroom door immediately opened again, and out stepped Martha."You're pregnant.." she stated, the shock present in her voice.

There was silence. Lois tried to think of something to say but couldn't face thought of making up a lie,but didn't have the energy. Instead Lois went into the bathroom.

Martha bit the bullet,"...is Lex the father?"

"No!"Lois shook her head and reiterated"No!No!No...Lex is just a friend."Lois sat down on the edge of the bathtube to get her bearings, she couldn't believe it. She didn't want to relive the pain of last looked at all four tests then chucked them into the mini trash can in the corner of the bathroom.

"Then who is the father?" Martha sat next to Lois on the Bathtub "If you don't mind me asking."

_How could this have happened?_ Lois silently asked herself. Lois cast her mind back to that night, a couple of months ago when she'd gone to collect her belongings from the apartment that she and Clark had once shared. The same night that they had very intense, very emotional, very unprotected sex on the living room floor. She'd been on the pill but since she and Clark had stopped being intimate and had separated she'd given the contraception a wide berth.

Lois bit her lip,clenched her trembling hands together, took a deep breath and Looked Martha in the eyes, "No one you know."

TBC.


	27. Chapter 27

**XYK**

**Chapter 27 – ****X marks the spot**

Martha hadn't wanted to pry. She could sense that Lois was on edge and today was a day for celebration. Martha patted Lois gently on the back and led her back to the kitchen where Durga had drifted off to sleep in her stroller.

"Martha..."Lois said biting her lower lip"...I need you to **not** tell Clark."

Martha's brow furrowed, she sighed "Lois, I won't lie to him."

Lois nodded slowly, accepting defeat.

"...but, I won't mention it." Martha said her heart heavy. She could only grimace at the pain that lie ahead for her only child on hearing that Lois, the woman he loved was expecting a child with another man.

Lois sighed with visible relief.

"It's not like you can hide it for long. Besides he deserves to know." Martha cupped Lois's face in her hands "...And its better that he find out from you and nobody else."

Lois nodded. She could count on Martha to give her some time to work out what she was going to do. "Thank you."Lois whispered as un-cried tears rose to her eyes. Unable to stop the deluge Lois began to sob, Loud and almost violently, the past couple of weeks had really gotten to her.

It didn't take Martha long to spring into action. Martha grabbed Lois and hugged her with all her might, "It's OK, It's Ok....I've got you."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"What do you mean Lois doesn't live here anymore!?" Lucy asked, staring suspiciously from Clark to his guest.

Clark turned to his guest "Could you give us a minute?"

The brunette nodded and exited the room.

"What's going on here? Who the hell's that chick?"Lucy demanded. "Where's my sister?"

Clark sighed, after what he and Diana had just been through he certainly couldn't handle any more drama. "Luce, Lois and I are getting a divorce. She doesn't live here anymore, she moved into a penthouse apartment downtown."

Lucy's eyes widened "Why? Has it got something to do with her?" She pointed to the bedroom that the Brunette had previously entered.

"No." Clark said in complete honesty. Lucy didn't look convinced.

Clark was momentarily taken about. He had assumed that Lois had filled Lucy in when she'd visit her sister in Italy or perhaps when she'd filed for a divorce. _Apparently not._

Lucy picked up her bags. "Do you have Lois's address?"

Clark nodded "penthouse number 3, top floor of the Carrington apartment complex."

"I know it."Lucy snapped, seemingly irritated at being left out of the loop.

"Let me get my keys, I'll drop you." Clark offered.

"No.."Lucy looked Clark up and down, and then shook her head in disbelief. "I'll find my own way."

Lucy turned sharply on her heels and opened the front door. She turned to look back at Clark "I really don't understand.."She walked out of the door and down the hallway.

_That makes two of us._ Clark thought to himself as he closed the door, took of his glasses and rubbed his eyes. Realising that they were covered in ash he stopped and went into the kitchen, opened the faucet and washed his hands.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lois's sobs had faded to deep breathing and a few hiccups. Martha still gently rubbed Lois's back whispered words of strength and encouragement. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but now wasn't the time and In the absence of Lois's mother, Martha couldn't help but feel a sense of responsibility to the woman-child she had come to love.

A loud pounding at the front door made them simultaneously jump. Martha and Lois Jumped apart then looked at each other and smiled.

Lois quickly wiped her face and straightened her clothing before going to open the door.

"Luce, what are you doing here?" Lois asked completely surprised.

Lucy stepped forward and hugged her sister "I could ask you the same thing..." searching Lois face, she leaned back and said, "Have you been crying?"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Clark dried his hands and poured himself a glass of Orange Juice. He drank it down in one gulp. He hadn't even realised that he'd been that thirsty. Leaning against the refrigerator Clark closed his eyes and let his mind recollect the evenings events-

_-He had been first to show up on the scene. Huge imposing flames ripped out of the dilapidated tenement building. The squeals and horrified shrieks of poor men, women and children melded with the roar of the flames and the breaking of glass, creating a cacophony of sound._

_As superman landed, he couldn't help but notice the presence of spectators. On the outskirts stood three very conspicuous men. All in Leather jackets and gel slickened black hair. One smoking a cigarette and the other talking on a cell phone. The third was leant up against a black chevy car._

_An explosion stole Clark's concentration away from the men to the building. He raced to save the lives of the inhabitants inside._

_Busting through a window Clark was able to grab three people and fly them to safety. Flying back up to the burning building Clark used his ex-ray vision to search for other people through the thick black smoke. Using his breath he blew to clear the way, collecting as many individuals as possible._

"_Superman!"terrified residents had exclaimed with relief, as Clark helped manoeuvre them through the building and out to the now waiting fire brigade and ambulance services._

_Wonder woman suddenly appeared at his side and rushed into the burning building with him. Clark used all his strength and breath to put out the flames, whilst Diana spun in circles creating a miniature whirlwind, obstructing flames, smoke and fumes._

_The buildings structure began to shake. Diana and Clark stood still, trying to anticipate their next move. The foundations on which they stood began to tremble._

"_It's gonna cave!" Diana shouted to Clark._

"_You get the last out and I'll hold the building up."Clark said drifting up towards the framework._

_Using her super speed Diana tore the place up, checking and shielding others._

_Clark held up the metal rafters of the building and smelt the smell of burning flesh. He looked down into his hands and realised it was his own flesh that was sizzling away. He couldn't feel any pain but the smell threatened to turn his stomach._

"_Everyones' out!" Diana yelled up at Clark._

_Clark released the metal rafters and watched them dissipate to the ground. All that had been left were burnt bricks and mortar._

_Back on the ground, Clark had looked down at his severely burnt and disfigured hands and watched his healing factor kick in. Within seconds they were restored to their former state .In the distance he saw the same three men from earlier get into the Chevy and drive off. Something had compelled Clark to go over to the space that they'd just vacated. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, but something about those men hadn't seemed right .In the corner of his eye he could see a huge piece of paper dancing in the early evening breeze._

_Crouching down he picked up the paper and unfolded it .It seemed to be a map of some sort. Clark folded the map up and went back over to the busy crime had looked over at Diana who was talking to the chief of Police and nodded at her, signifying the end. Diana nodded back and together they had flown to his apartment.-_

Diana appeared at the doorway fully clothed."Thanks for letting me use your shower." She said knocking Clark out of his thoughts. "I had smoke, dust and ash coming out of every pore."

"No problem." He smiled.

"I hope I didn't get you in any trouble, I can only imagine what that looked like to your sister in Law."Diana sat down on one of the stools at the breakfast bar.

"Don't worry about it. Want a drink?"Clark offered "I've got juice, cola, water..."

"Water will be fine."Diana gladly accepted the glass, and she too finished it within seconds. Silence settled between the two ,as each got lost in thought.

"That was some fire, huh?"Diana said, eventually breaking the comfortable silence.

Clark shook head, "They're getting worse."

"Do you think there's some kind of link?" Diana asked.

"I don't know but there've been too many for it to be a freak coincidence." Clark answered.

Diana nodded.

Clark remembered something. "Wait here." He said exiting the kitchen only to return a few second later, carrying a sizeable piece of paper underarm.

"What is that?"Diana stood up to join Clark.

"It's a map that I found near the building." Clark said unfolding the map and spreading it across the kitchen table. Diana placed the salt and pepper shakers and condiments on each side to prevent the map from folding on itself. It was a map of Metropolis and its surrounding perimeters with huge **x **marks covering it. Clark looked a little harder. There had to be about 20 **x **marks drawn on the map.

Clark used his finger to play connect the dot from location to location. He read out each location and paused pensively.

"Correct me if I'm wrong..."Diana said quietly, her eyes intent on every location with a thick black **x **, "...but aren't those..."

"All the places that have been set on fire."Clark finished off her sentence "Yeah..."

Diana gasped. "But there are 20 **x**'s here and so far there have been 17 fires. That means there are three more to go."

"Well at least we know where, it's just a matter of when."Clark clenched his teeth as he thought of Durga's mother and all the other injured and dead, "I will find out who is responsible for this. Mark my words."

**TBC.**


	28. Chapter 28

**XYK**

**Chapter 29 – Figure of 8**

Laughing, Lex helped Lois out of the Limo and held her hand as he escorted her to the front of her building. Dinner had been great. They'd talked Art, Politics, fashion and travel. Lex had been the perfect gentleman over a dinner that should have ended hours ago.

"Thank You for a lovely evening."Lois smiled up at Lex.

"I was hoping you'd invite me up for a coffee."Lex whispered in her ear.

Lois feigned shock. " I don't know what you've heard mister, but I'm a lady."

The two shared a friendly giggle.

"Lex,I'm just coming out of a marriage and I've got a Baby and my sister up there."

"I know." Lex gently kissed Lois's hand."I'm prepared to wait. I'm here if you need me." Lois smiled a genuine smile. Lex had been incredibly kind to her, he had thrown her a life line when she most needed it and she was touched. She could still see why her younger self had once been infatuated with him. Lex Luthor knew how to turn on the charm. The only trouble was that Lois wasn't 21 anymore and her heart still beat for the man that let her go. The man she had let go in return.

Holding on to Lex's hand Lois couldn't help but notice how smooth and soft they were, unlike Clarks that were hardened and slightly rough from years of manual labour on the farm. Hands that were capable of incredible softness, hands that sent electricity shooting up her spine with one single touch.

"I should go ,it's late." Lois kissed Lex softly on the cheek "Some of us have work in the morning."

Lex playfully clutched his chest. He wistfully watched as Lois headed inside. "I'll call you."

Lois opened her front door and went inside. The lights were dimmed and she could hear the faint sound of the TV in the background.

Entering the living room Lois saw Lucy fast asleep,curled into a ball in her plush venetian made smiled and slipped off her shoes, a man's figure caught her by surprise,she looked a little to Lois's surprise it was -Clark! Unexpectedly ,Clark was comfortably lying on her couch.

Sprawled across Clark's chest was 's chubby cheek was mushed against Clark's pectoral muscle. Clarks huge hand was protectively placed on Durga's tiny frame and they were both sound asleep.

Lois stood mesmerized. A tentative smile rose to her lips just watching the man she still loved cradling her child. Something inside her melted, at that precise moment Lois would have given anything to have been able to snuggle up besides them and fall asleep. Instead she unconsciously put her hand over her still flat stomach, as the reality of their situation hit home . She knew she had to wake them but she'd leave it for a few more minutes and immerse herself in the 'what ifs'.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lex got into the Limo and told his driver to take him he watched the city submerge itself in night time, he thought of Lois Lane -the one thing he wanted but had so far remained had decided then and there to step up his loved a challenge and more often than not he had proven to be the wouldn't be content until Lois Lane was in his bed,right where he wanted her.

" music to accompany your journey?" asked Wilfred the driver,knocking Lex out of his thoughts.

"Certainly." Lex smiled as Beethoven filled the limo.

**Beep Beep**

Lex looked down at the caller ID on his phone and sighed."I thought I told you to never ring this number." Lex leant forward and clicked the switch to raise the electric partition between he and his driver.

"Where's our money?" asked the brutish voice from the other end.

Lex picked an imaginary speck of dust from his expensive suit,"From what I hear there are three properties to go."

"You promised us 8 million big ones!" asserted the voice.

"Yes,and you'll get your money once this job's complete."

Lex could hear a muffled sound in the background,as though the rent-a-thug was consulting with his team, "Well,we need more incentive.",said the brute.

"I'll transfer $2 million into the account tonight. The rest at the end of the job. Agreed?"

"Agreed" The voice said.

"And don't ever call this phone again.", content,Lex put his cell phone down,and closed his eyes and let the symphony wash over him.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Durga began to stir. Lois moved and crossed the living room, kneeling down besides Clark and Durga, She gently hummed and rubbed Durga's back. Clark who was still asleep subconsciously did the same thing. Lois and Clarks hands locked. Clark slowly opened his eyes only to be met by Lois's hazel eyes staring at him intently.

"Hey." Clark said quietly, his voice weighed down by sleep.

"Hey yourself..." Lois smiled "You looked so comfortable. I didn't want to wake you."Lois said in a half whisper, all too aware of the fact that they were holding hands over Durga's back.

"Yeah.."Clark looked down at the sleeping baby on his chest. "I hadn't meant to stay this long. She's kind of addictive."

Lois gave a small chuckle "You're a natural."Lois stared down at Clark who was all sleepy and warm, their eyes locked.

Clark smiled up at Lois,she was radiant, he suddenly felt compelled to kiss her. He wanted to kiss her.

"Hey Lo!" Lucy yawned and rubbed her eyes "You're back."

The spell was reclaimed her hand as if she'd been scolded and stood up,"It's late."

Clark got up and handed Durga over to Lois, "So it is.I should go."

"Bye,Clark."Lucy waved from her still holding Durga followed Clark to the Front door.

Clark put on his coat,"I'd like to talk to you tomorrow, if that's alright."

Lois could sense something ominous in his tone of voice. "Umm,sure.I'll be home all evening. Just drop by."

Clark nodded and left closing the door behind him. Lois couldn't help but wonder. He couldn't possibly know about her secret could he? Martha wouldn't tell him, would she? Or maybe he sensed it....a multitude of thoughts ran through Lois's mind.

Lucy unwound her limbs and stretched. She yawned "Good night?"

Lois nodded "Yeah,I had fun." She went into her bedroom and placed Durga in her cradle. "What was Clark doing here?"

"Oh , he just stopped by to see the baby,I guess." Lucy switched off the television set " and we had a lot of catching up to do."

"What did you talk about?"Lois asked,biting her lip.

"Oh,you know..this ,that and the other...It was all very illuminating."Lucy stood in Lois's bedroom doorway."Ok.I'm gonna hit the sack."

"Nite,babe."Lois said, as her and Lucy exchanged kisses and hugs.

Lucy started to leave the room but stopped and turned back around to face her sister "You have a glow about you."

Lois looked up at her sister, unsure of what to say ,"I do?" she managed to stutter.

"Yep.I didn't notice it before."Lucy smiled and shrugged, "Well...Goodnight."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

_The next day:_

"I've come to talk to you about Lex Luthor." Clark said ,taking a seat opposite Lois.

Lois had been totally unprepared for that had expected a pro-termination had spent most of the night tossing and turning, mentally preparing for the inevitable battle that would result from the knowledge of her pregnancy. But now that the hour had presented itself and Clark wanted to talk about lex Luthor, Lois was stunned...and then relieved that he didn't seem to know, and then incredibly pissed off._Here we go again,_she thought to herself.

Clark relayed everything he'd found out thus far. From the fires to the properties and the bids made on Lois remained nonplussed by the whole thing. "Do you hear yourself, Clark ?I mean really."

Clark stopped talking and sat in disbelief at Lois's mocking tone. "Of course I hear myself."

"Lex Luthor is a lot of things but a cold hearted murderer, I doubt it!" Lois scoffed "Lex is a philanthropist; he gives millions away every year to deserving causes. He's been awarded the model business person award five years running and.."

"Wow, you really are brainwashed ...what happened to you Lois?"Clark cut in " You used to be an investigative reporter, the best this city has ever seen and now you're just.."

"I'm just what!?"Lois shot back, her tone challenging him to finish his sentence.

Clark shook his head in disgust.

"Are you sure that this isn't some sort of misplaced vendetta against the man you can't stand?

"You think I'm being spiteful and malicious?"

"Just calling it like I see it." Lois shrugged, the expression on her face completely unyielding.

"Stop being so blind,Lois!" Clark groaned in frustration.

Lois stood up,outraged "Blind?I'm not the one allowing my jealousy to overrule my ethics!"

"You think this is jealousy!?" Clark stood up too.

Lois stood in front of him"Yes.I think you're jealous."

"You think I'm jealous?"Clark snarled

"Yes.I think you are!" Lois snarled right back, poking her index finger into his chest "You can't stand the fact that Lex Luthor saved me!"

Lois took a step forward, forcing Clark to take a step backwards.

"You can't stand the fact that he's given me my life back!"Lois continued prodding and stepping forward "You can't stand the fact that I'm happy."

Clark clenched his teeth.

"You can't stand the fact that Lex Luthor is the one making me happy!" Lois exclaimed

That was the last straw. Clark could feel his anger boiling and bubbling to the surface.

"No,Lois" Clark spat, standing his ground. "What I can't stand is the fact that you seem to have undergone a lobotomy."

Lois gasped.

"What I can't stand is that you'd defend a criminal, despite all the evidence against him!" Clark growled, stepping forward reclaiming the power and forcing Lois to take steps back.

"What I can't stand ..."Clark snarled so low and forcefully, it actually made the hairs on the back of Lois's neck stand up "..is that you actually think that you're happy. You're nowhere in the vicinity."

Lois gasped as she hit the wall, there was nowhere left to go. There was little more than an inch between them. Lois could hear her heartbeat reverberating in her ears. They were so close they were sharing the same breath. The tension was palpable. Lois licked her dry lips,forcing Clark's steel gaze to trail from her eyes down to her full moist lips .There was a silent intensity that had settled between them. Their eyes full of anger, but there was a flicker..._passion?maybe,_Lois thought in passing. She was certain Clark was going to kiss her and if he did she was certain that she wouldn't have been able to resist.

**RING RING**

The sound of Lois's cell phone broke the moment .Lois extricated herself and slid around Clark to the other side of the room where her cell phone resided.

Still fuming and shooting daggers at Clark, Lois picked up her mobile phone.

"Hi, is Keisha Sharp."

Lois exhaled to deflect her anger and turned away from Clark,"Oh,Hi Keisha. How can I help you?"

"I don't know how to tell you this but .."Keisha took a deep breath "...We've found a man we believe to be Baby Durga's biological father."

Stunned ,Lois put the phone down.

**TBC.**


	29. Chapter 29

**XYK**

**Chapter 30 – Seeing Red.**

Durga was in a foul mood. No amount of coaxing or rocking was going to change her disposition. Lois slipped off her small duffle coat and sat Durga on her knee. Durga began to wail louder and without respite. Lois smiled apologetically at the red headed nurse standing before them. _Poor kid_, Lois thought, _she looks exactly like I feel_. Lois gently rubbed Durga's back and pacified her with kisses and cuddles.

The smiley nurse quickly put on rubber gloves and opened a draw. She pulled out a box and opened it. Slowly she pulled out a cotton swab and put it to rest on the plastic she had already put down. The nurse then reached into another draw and pulled out a soft pink piggy hand puppet .The nurse slipped it on to her free hand and began entertaining the tot. Durga was mesmerised.

Gently using her plastic gloved finger, the nurse gently placed said finger into Durga's mouth. Durga who looked shocked for about half a second soon began to gently suck. It was then that the nurse picked up a cotton swab and quickly replaced her finger.

"Done."The Nurse smiled. She opened a small plastic bag and popped the swab in, then labelled it.

"So what happens now?"Asked Lois.

"Well, we'll get this off to the lab and it'll be tested against the specimen we already have."

Lois grimaced. 'The specimen we already have' was the nurses way of saying 'The man who might be Durga's father.'

Lois didn't want to be selfish but she said a silent prayer, begging God to please let the test results be negative.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Clark sat down opposite who sat back in her leather study chair and smiled. "Hello are you today?"

Clark sighed wearily, but tried to feign a smile"Fine thanks."

"I won't waste your time."Dr Fox flipped open a file "Stress."

Clark cocked his head to the side "I beg your pardon?"

"Your test results showed that your stress levels are increasingly high." Dr Fox leant over and handed Clark a write up "Your emotional disposition is having a bearing on your physical."

"So it wasn't Kryptonite?"

shook her head " this time."

"I'm a Superhero...." Clark stated incredulously.

"I know Clark, but I suppose that all Superheroes have their weaknesses."

Clark huffed._Figures._If Kryptonite wouldn't Kill him, Lois would.

"I know you've been through a lot recently..."Dr Fox paused "... but you need to find some sort of resolution for your own health, maybe you could get away..."

"Not a possibility,Doc."Clark said glumly.

On the way home Clark considered hitting a bar or several. He needed something strong. Maybe he'd go drown his sorrows like the majority of mortals would in his situation, but alcohol never had its desired effect on him. If Clark was being honest, he wanted to go get drunk off of his ass. But he had long accepted the fact that it would never be a possibility.

For one night he wanted to just forget about Lois and the stress and just let go.

He needed some RED.

Red Kryptonite that was. It was the only thing that he could think of that would take the edge off of the crap his life had apparently become. He wanted the ringing in his head to stop. He wanted to stop being so nice, he wanted to move on.

It started now-Clark parked his car quickly and raced up to his quiet apartment. He made his way to the closet and opened it with dexterity. Tossing old books, sneakers, clothes and random pieces of junk aside until he found the wooden lead lined box that contained what he was looking for. Gulping, he opened the box and looked down .A red glow reflected off of his face as he gently picked up the item he'd been seeking. There it was, his old class ring...glowing in the palm of his hand.

Clark let the wooden box fall to the floor and slipped the ring onto his finger. A force of energy rippled through him making him gasp for air. His phone beeped. Collecting his breath he chocked a small "Hello?"

"Hey Clark..."Diana's voice rang out "... I was wondering if you wanted to maybe hang out tonight, we could go see a movie."

Clark looked at his reflection in the mirror on the wall. He could feel his demeanour changing, his posture straightening; it was like a drug surging through his veins'. A sparkle of crimson flashed in his eyes. Clark liked what he saw.

"yeah,Babe.I'll pick you up." Clark smirked and quickly put down his phone.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"This isn't a Movie theatre."Diana said hesitantly. She made a face at the dark building they had parked in front of. The Neon glow of the nightclub read, '_Starlite_'

"Yeah,I thought we'd switch it up a little." Clark adjusted his dark shades and turned off the ignition.

"Well, I don't think I'm dressed appropriately." Diana looked down at her jeans and floral patterned shirt.

Clark got out of the car and saddled round to Diana's side. Opening the car door, he helped her out.

Holding Diana's eye contact he gently pulled her close. Diana gasped, so unused to the began to undo the buttons of her the top,displaying the lace trim of her pink bra,then he started to undo buttons from the looked around,red rising to her cheeks. " are you doing?"

"Take your hair out of that bun."Clark said,ignoring her stepped back and admired Diana's toned and bronzed midriff.

Diana wasn't sure what to think. Clark seemed so different tonight, so self assured, so....sexy. "Ok."Diana said in a slow breathy whisper. She raised her hand slowly and released her hair.

"Shake it." Clark demanded.

Diana shook her hair out and looked up at Clark for confirmation.

A cat like smile spread across Clarks full lips. "Now that's what I'm talking' about."

Diana looked away and blushed harder.

All too aware of the effect he was having on her, Clark took Diana's hand in his. Diana looked down "I like your ring." Diana was hypnotised by the swirling glow of his unusual ring.

Clark stopped and turned to Diana, "I hoped you would." He gently pulled her towards the club with the thumping bassline.

Once inside the Club, Clark led Diana straight onto the floor, twirled her around and drew her near for a slow grind. The hip hop beats, coupled with the bodies of the gyrating dancers that surrounded them only served to ignite the chemistry between them.

"Take off your glasses; I wanna look into your eyes."Diana said, matching Clark's rhythm on the dance floor.

Clark took them off and slipped them into his pants pocket. He pulled Diana close and gently lifted her chin. Slowly he nipped at her mouth with his lips. Diana snaked her arms around his neck and allowed Clark to slowly intertwine his tongue with hers, sending millions of electricity volts racing round her body. Clark lay his hands on Diana's warm skin as if he were some kind of healer, then moved his hands towards her narrow hips and gently squeezed her buttocks.

Diana giggled at his new audacity. Her mind whirling and butterflies in her stomach, She looked up at Clark. For a second Diana couldn't recognise the man she had been attracted to for many years. For a quarter of a second there seemed to be a red sparkle in his eye that disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. Before she had time to analyse it, Clark spun and dipped her.

"How about we get out of here?" Clark whispered seductively against Diana's ear.

Too excited to speak Diana could only nod and smile an anxious smile; Her resolve giving way to optimism and desire.

The drive to Clark's apartment seemed to take an age. Diana could hear her heart reverberating in her chest, she licked her dry lips and sat back watching the Urban sprawl pass her by.

Once Clark had parked outside his building he looked over at Diana, took her hand and slowly kissed each finger. She had fantasised about this for years, dreamed about this. The day Clark Kent would look at her, much like he was today, with Lust and crazy attraction BUT-

"Are you coming?" Clark said in a low seductive growl, completely knocking Diana out of thoughts.

Diana studied his face for a minute "Yeah....", she said slowly.

Clark smiled a thousand watt smile that not only melted her heart but made it race. All of a sudden, the Clark she'd known for years had appeared in front of her. Diana shook away the doubt gnawing at her sub conscience.

Diana took a deep breath , gave Clark her hand and let him lead her up to his apartment.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Lois leant against the refrigerator, holding a can of Mountain Dew to her forehead. She felt like her guts were being twisted and pushed up. She wanted to be sick but knew she had nothing more left in her. The sickness was getting worse. Lois closed her eyes and prayed that the room would stop spinning, as much as it hurt her heart she was going to have to face facts and the reality of her predicament. She thanked her lucky stars that Lucy had decided to go out for the evening.

There was a ring at the door bell.

Lois groaned.

The door bell rang again and again.

Lois swore. _Who could possibly be calling at this hour?_ She knew she had to pull herself together or she'd be dealing with a screaming baby that had been awaken from a difficult sleep.

Holding pieces of furniture, and diligently putting one foot in front of the other, Lois made it to the front door and opened it slowly.

"Hi Lois." Diana Prince said.

The two women looked at each other for what seemed like an eternity.

"...May I come in?" Diana asked, a hesitant smile on her full lips.

Lois scowled. If she was honest she didn't want the woman anywhere near her. But what could she do? Turn her .Lois wouldn't do that. She was intrigued by the fact that Diana Prince had the audacity to darken her doorway.

"What do you want?"Lois asked,attitude skirting her voice.

"I need to talk to you,Woman to woman."Diana exhaled. "It's important...Can I come in or not!"

**TBC.**


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 31 – Two sugars**

Diana adjusted her rumpled shirt and ran a hand through her long wild hair. Lois stared intently at Diana, she seemed nervous. Her nose was red, her throat and voice were mildly raw and Lois was sure she could detect a hint of smudged mascara around Diana's eyes. _She'd been crying_, Lois thought, _but she had tried to cover the evidence_.

Lois tapped her fingers against her knees as she waited for Diana to say something, anything.

Never in all her imagination did she conceive that she and Diana Prince would be sitting opposite each other in her living room.

Diana on the other hand had lost her nerve. She was Wonder Woman but she wasn't any good at confrontation, not as Diana Prince anyway. Everything she wanted to say seemed to have evaporated. After another tug of her hair and a cough to clear her throat, Diana spoke. "How are you Lois?"

Lois wasn't sure how to respond, she tilted her head and slowly replied, " F-ine."

Diana nodded.

"...and how are you?" Lois asked, extending the cordiality.

"Fine." Diana said quickly, and went silent all over again.

Lois gritted her teeth and waited. She wasn't sure what she was waiting for but it was incredibly late and despite the scene at the front door, Diana seemed in no hurry to disclose the nature of her visit."You don't like me much, do you?"

Almost surprised at the sound of Diana's voice, Lois looked her straight in the eyes, "I barely know you Diana."

"But you still don't think much of me."

Lois began removing invisible lint from her skirt "How I feel about you has very little to do with anything."

Diana smiled "True."

The two women gazed at each other for a moment. Neither one of them was grimacing but neither one of them was smiling either.

"I don't mean to be rude."Lois puffed "... but why are you here?"

"I had nowhere else to go."Diana clenched her hands together and looked up," you're the closest thing I've got to a girl friend in this city."

Lois was flabbergasted. She didn't know what to say, except "Poor you."

Diana laughed instantly. A sincere smile that seem to lift her entire spirit, almost like the sun coming out from behind a dark rain cloud. They weren't friends. Probably never would be, but in that instance Lois knew that she couldn't just kick Diana Prince out of her apartment, not when the woman seemed to have burdens to unload. Besides, she was still so curious.

"Would you like a coffee?"Lois asked.

"Sure." Diana said "Two sugars please."

Lois tucked some hair behind her ear and stood stood up too quickly and had to grab the room was spinning out of control and Lois couldn't get her closed her eyes tightly and inhaled deeply,then exhaled wanted to be sick and couldn't stop her stomach from heaving.

"Lois!?Are you alright?"Diana got up and raced to Lois's side.

Lois wiped her mouth with the back of her hand "I'm fine....really."

"You've gone pale and you're shaking,Lois." Diana supported Lois and lowered her to the couch,she pulled out her phone "Let me call somebody..I'll call Clark."

"NO!" Lois ferocity with which she screamed stopped both women in their tracks. "Not him!"

Diana made a face and slid her cell phone back into her jeans pocket.

"I'll be fine....Just get me a glass of water. It'll be fine."Lois put her pounding head between her knees "It goes and comes..."

Diana was on it like a flash, complete with pain killers and a carefully lifted Lois's legs and wrapped her in the blanket.

"I totally see why people like you, you're...."Lois searched for the correct adjective "...nice."

Diana managed a small laugh "so are you."

"So,do you live here now?" Lois said trying to make conversation as she waited for her headache to subside.

"No." Said Diana "I won't be staying in Metropolis very much longer. I'm heading back to Paradise Island next Wednesday."

"When will you be back?" Lois snuggled into the cushion Diana had carefully placed against her back.

"I won't" Diana said.

Lois was confused,"What about Clark!?"

"What about him?" Diana shrugged her shoulders.

"He'll be heartbroken...." Lois said ,pretending at disappointment.

Diana rolled her eyes "You think he likes me huh?" she asked sarcastically.

"Yes I think he does and I'm glad Clark found means he's moving on."

"Lois Lane you're either blind,in denial or an awful Liar!"

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

Diana Prince rummaged in her back pocket ,and with her free hand she grabbed Lois's palm and deposited the trinket inside it. Lois looked down at her palm,only to see clark's old class one he buried away in a box years ago. The ring that was made out of Red Kryptonite .The Kryptonite that made him say and do crazy things and leave his inhibitions far behind."He called me Lois." Diana scoffed "So, yeah he likes me but NOT as much as he loves you."

"That's not true."Lois began to rattle off the lies she'd told herself. She looked down at the ring with a grimace,she couldn't believe that Clark would wilfully turn to Red K.

" me tell you what happened to me tonight..." Diana began.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

_Clark and Diana looked at each other knowingly. Diana moved closer and tilted her head. He had her cornered against the wall in his dark apartment. They stood kissing heatedly, a fever building up between them. Clarks face was quickly becoming smothered with strawberry chapstick .Clark sucked Diana's ear, kissed her face and made his way back to her bee-stung lips. _

_They'd been kissing so long and with all the might each possessed that it actually felt like they'd been working out. Clarks hand slowly began to unknot and unbutton Diana's shirt. She didn't object. Instead she snaked her arms around his neck and allowed him to pick her up. _

_From that point on clothes were scattered,a sexy trail of clothes were strewn along the floor as Clark lay Diana upon his of them still in their underwear._

"_Aw!Clark your ring scratched me."Diana giggled against his lips._

"_Sorry Lois-" Clark whispered,whilst nuzzling Diana's quickly took the ring off._

_Diana couldn't believe what she'd just heard._

"_What did you just say?"Diana asked._

_Clark froze as if he'd been momentarily disabled , he looked up at Diana in a effect wasn't lost on quickly picked the ring up._"_What is this ring?"_

_Clark looked down at the glowing ring,guilt written all over his face._

"_You need to be drugged or enhanced to even consider the possibility of being with me?"Diana asked, the hurt giving way to disgust "and you called out your wife's name. Just what every girl wants to hear!"_

"_It wasn't like that." Clark sat up._

_Diana turned away from Clark suddenly feeling very naked and vulnerable,"What was it like Clark?"_

_Clark turned Diana around and took her hand. "I just needed something to take the edge off.I like you alot Stay ,we can talk this through..."_

"_If I thought there was a remote chance that you could ever want me, ever love me ... I'd stay but you and I both know that isn't going to happen." Diana snatched her hand "It's time I faced up to the reality."_

_Diana got up with all the dignity she could muster and picked up her didn't try to stop her. It was only once she'd put her clothes on and made it two blocks that she began to mourn the end of a dream._

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"...So you see, Clark is far from being over you..."Diana nodded, a tinge of sadness in her voice "and if you're worried about not being able to give him children, then.."

"I'm pregnant." Lois blurted out.

Diana looked at her shocked. "With-"

"'s Clark's baby."Lois nodded and tried to stop the tears she felt welling up inside her "But it was before you and he were-"

"You almost died last time." Diana's jaw dropped. "Are you going to tell him?"

"No.I mean yes....eventually." Lois said,non too convincingly.

"I don't get it. You'll fight for a baby that could kill you.A baby that you don't even know yet but you won't fight for the man that you love,I don't understand you humans."

"Well,Clark isn't human."

"I know ,but he was raised amongst you and thinks like you." Diana took a breath, "Do you still love him?" she asked pointedly.

Lois let a tear slide down her cheek, she couldn't find the words, but nodded vigorously.

"Then FIGHT for him Lois!Fight for Clark!"Diana said.

**TBC**


	31. Chapter 31

**XYK- Chapter 32- "****7 POUNDS"**

"Lois, you're four months pregnant!" Doctor Fox said, whilst examining Lois's cervix. Lois shifted uncomfortably to accommodate Dr Fox's examination.

"But on the plus side, I'm still alive..." Lois bit her lip and forced a smile.

Dr Fox glared at Lois, "It didn't occur to you to come and see me earlier?"

Lois looked over at Diana, who was sitting patiently on a seat at Dr Fox's desk. Diana gave a small smile of encouragement.

Dr Fox slid off of her seat and got up, slipping off her rubber gloves and chucking them in the disposal bin, she picked up her clipboard and wrote down some notes. Meanwhile Lois closed her legs, slipped her feet out of the stirrups and got dressed.

went to sit at her desk opposite Diana "Lois, don't take this the wrong way but what were you thinking?"

Lois joined them and sat down"It wasn't planned...Clark and I aren't even together anymore, it just happened."Lois sighed,"Dr Fox,I am asking you to please help me carry this baby to term."

"Lois come here." Dr Fox stood up again and held out her hand to Lois who got up and grabbed Fox took Lois over to a full length mirror on the other side of the office.

"Look at yourself."

Lois looked into the mirror. She saw she saw was the same reflection she'd seen for 35 shrugged "I don't know what I'm supposed to be looking for."

Dr Fox put her hands on Lois's shoulders. "Look harder."

Lois sighed but studied her reflection a little a minute she huffed, "Sorry,I don't see anything."

"You're slightly yellow. You're in the early stages of jaundice. Your cheeks are hollow and your eyes have dark rings around them."Dr Fox noted.

Lois stared harder at Fox was was as if the fog had been lifted and she could suddenly see herself properly for the first time in months.

"You're four months pregnant and you haven't started to show yet. Instead of gaining weight, you're losing weight..."Dr Fox continued. "Just by looking at you, I'd say at least 7 pounds since the last time I saw you."

"I've been really stressed out lately. I feel fine. I'm in the process of adopting a child, I'm going through a divorce, I have a high powered job and no time for myself. Of course I don't look great but like I said before, I feel fine...."

Dr Fox appraised Lois but didn't look too convinced. Instead she shuffled back to her desk and sat down, picked up her pen and wrote down more notes.

Lois looked over at Diana who looked anxious.

Suddenly Diana's phone began to ring. Diana looked down at it and turned pale. She quickly switched it off and put it away. Lois automatically had an inkling of who it might be phoning Diana. It had to be Clark.

"Lois, I'm going to be very honest with you..."Dr Fox began, snapping Lois's attention back to her "...your chances of carrying this baby to term are very slim.I'm sure I don't need to tell you again. But since you are past the first trimester I will do my utmost to ensure you have a fighting chance."

Diana and Lois both sighed with relief.

"I'm putting you on high doses of Folic acid, Iron and a multivitamin. Five of each three times a day."

"Sure."Lois nodded.

"Xymethaline- yttrium-Krypton difluoride."

"Say what?" Lois asked.

"A substance me and my team have been working on .We call it **XYK**." Dr Fox looked up from her prescription pad "Your baby will need all the nutrients it can get."

Lois nodded even though her head was spinning.

"It'll have to be administered via drip, for about three hours a night."

Lois groaned internally.

"I'll get a nurse to set you up with the knowhow and everything you need. You'll be able to administer it yourself; the side effects should be minimal..."

A drip meant needles. Lois shuddered but silently reminded herself that it would all be worth it in the end.

"Exercise..?" Dr Fox asked, Diana gently prodded Lois snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Do you exercise?"

"Not as much as I'd like to."Lois shrugged.

"A lot of exercise isn't something I'd recommend to a lot of women in your condition but You need to take care of yourself Lois. "Dr Fox sat back in her leather chair "You'll need to be physically strong to deliver this baby. I'm talking power walking, light weights, yoga, Pilates, swimming...Do you swim?"

-x-x-x-x-

Walking out of the Office Lois pulled up the collar of her coat to shield herself from the windy weather. Diana remained indifferent to the weather, simply letting her thick chestnut hair flail in the wind.

"Thanks for coming with me today."Lois said to Diana. "I really needed the moral support."

Diana smiled as the women walked along the street "You're welcome." Diana giggled slightly.

"What?"Lois asked wanting to share in the joke.

"It's nothing..."Diana began.

Lois laughed "Liar!"

"Ok...It's just, who would have thought that we'd be here like this. You and I ,all friend-like. It's nice."

Lois smiled "Yeah...it is." Lois stopped walking "Wanna grab a cup of something warm and some Pie? It's freezing out here."

"It is?" Diana looked confused "I hadn't even noticed."

-x-x-x-x-

Clark looked down at his phone. He thought he'd try her again. Just to see. He reached for his phone but stopped himself. He didn't want to come off as some obsessed stalker; he'd already left six messages today and it had become abundantly clear that Diana Prince was not going to return any of them. He had hurt her beyond belief ,he had used her to get over Lois despite knowing how she felt about him, despite her being a good friend. He wanted to apologise; to explain that what had happened between them had nothing to do with her and everything to do with him and how messed up he could finally admit that he was. Clark reached for his phone and dialled her number.

-x-x-x-x-

Lois took a sip of her hot chocolate,and counted the number of rings omitting from Diana's cell phone "You really ought to get that."

Diana pretended to play deaf and dumb "What?"

"Your phone has been ringing nonstop ever since we left my apartment this morning, you haven't picked it up once,they don't have network coverage of Paradise Island and you only know two people in Metropolis...and I'm pretty sure I'm not the one calling you,It's Clark."

"How do you know?"Diana asked genuinely surprised.

"..I know Clark."Lois said in a small whisper, a lump in her throat. Lois quickly grabbed her mug and looked the other way, blinking away unshed tears. _I know Clark. Just like that it hit her. Lois cursed her hormones and overly emotional knew Clark,He was probably somewhere feeling awful right now._

The phone stopped ringing.

"You think I should talk to him?" Diana asked, digging a fork into her banana pie.

Lois nodded "You should clear the air before you leave."

"I can't .I'm embarrassed."

"Don't be."Lois reached over and patted Diana's hand.

"He called me by your name. I was semi naked, ready and willing and he called me Lois. And did I mention that he was high on Red K? I bet that just makes you feel great."

Lois couldn't help but smirk. "A little."

Diana smirked back and crossed her arms. "I'll talk to Clark when you tell him the truth."

Lois groaned "That's not fair. You guys are... " Lois leant forward and whispered "...in the Justice League, you have to be friends. The world depends on it. Besides I just can't, not right now, my main concerns are my children."

"Well you told me the truth and I didn't even have to use my Lasso of truth."

The two women shared a laugh.

"Maybe I'll send him a telegram from Paradise Island." Diana looked down at her watch "Speaking of which, I really should get going."

-x-x-x-x-

Lois drove Diana out to the air field on the outskirts of Metropolis, where Diana's invisible Jet was parked.

"What have you got planned for the rest of the day?" Diana asked whilst watching the picturesque Kansas scenery pass them by.

"Work stuff."

"Lois didn't you hear a word Dr Fox had to say?"

Lois smiled. "Of course I did. But the magazine is exploring migration and immigration and some Ladies have volunteered to talk to me about their struggles. This opportunity is too good to pass."

"Ok,but be careful because-" Diana began.

"It's pretty windy out, are you sure it's safe to fly?" Lois asked cutting Diana off from finishing the rest of her sentence.

The two women silently watched tall Oak trees sway in the wind for a minute.

"I'll be fine."Diana said, hoping out of the car to collect her bags. Lois got out to help.

The two women stood up and embraced.

"Look after yourself Lois."Diana gently laid a hand on Lois's still flat stomach.

"Will you be back?"

Diana nodded "Of Course. Try and stop me." She opened the plane and threw her bags inside. Diana stood on her invisible steps and turned to Lois who was stood waving over by her car on the edge of the airfield.

"Tell Clark!"

Lois smiled and nodded.

In a flash of white light Diana and her Invisible plane disappeared into the grey Kansas sky.

-x-x-x-x

Lois looked down at the piece of napkin paper that she'd scrawled the address on and stared up at the crumbling, more than menacing tenement building and shuddered.

Graffiti on the walls, broken glass and syringes on the floor coupled with the pervasive smell of Urine in the elevator, Lois tried not to gag._No one should be forced to live in these conditions_ ,she thought to herself as she clutched her bag and waited to arrive on the seventh floor.

Once there Lois knocked on apartment 7B and was greeted by four women. One Zimbabwean, One Honduran and the other two Bosnian. Lois stepped inside and thanked them profusely for taking the time to talk to her.

Two hours later Lois was reeling from the heartbreaking stories of courage, lost love,war,poverty and exodus to the relatively safe shores of America. Lois thanked the women again ,closed her notebook and pressed STOP on her voice recorder. She began to pack her things when the faint smell of smoke and burnt plastic hit her nose.

"FUEGO!" someone yelled from outside the apartment door,quickly followed by a hysterical stampede. "FUEGO!FUEGO!FUEGO!"

Lois dug hard inside her memory to locate her High school Spanish,"FIRE!...Did someone just say Fire!" Lois looked over at the startled women who immediately rose to their feet.

Lois raced over to the front door and opened it. First she was hit by the heat. Her eyes immediately stung from the smoke,so thick and high that she couldn't see through it. Her lungs began to oscillate ,and she couldn't breathe;instead she began to cough and her mouth with her hands she quickly closed the door and turned to face her petrified interviewees, calmly she said "The building is on fire and we need to get out NOW."

TBC.


	32. Chapter 32

**XYK**

**Chapter 33 – **_**Fuego !**_

"_fuego!_" was the last thing Lois heard before she switched off and looked around the apartment. "Cover your mouths, we're gonna have to go out there."

All five women ventured outside the apartment, covering their faces with sleeves and was pure pandemonium from other residents running for their lives.

Elena, one of the women Lois had interviewed began to hyperventilate. In her panic, the woman became incapacitated.

Eva,another women shook her,"It's not over til it's over,Elena."

"Exactly!" Lois smiled "Now c'mon..."

"Come Ladies,there's an exit on the ninth floor!" Said a man,running past them.

They all ran up the stairs and joined the rest of those trapped in the men had made a makeshift rope out of sheets and were lowering others out of the window.

Lois made sure the women and everyone else were lowered men tied the sheets to fixtures and offered Lois their hands.

In the corner stood a child crying .In the craziness he had lost his mother. Lois ignored the men ,raced to the boy and picked him men shrugged and shimmed down the makeshift rope.

Lois handed the child out through the window,slowly lowering him down Lois noticed a high beam above the window begin to shake as it caught on fire.

"Lois...come will support you!" one of the women called out from the ground.

Lois kept her eye on the beam,she could hear the roar of the flames demolishing the lower reached for the makeshift rope but jumped back as the beam fell and blocked her escape route.

"Sh**!" she backed away from the flames and raced down the hall,unable to see through the thick smoke she noticed another smaller window covered with a metal reached out and tried to lift the grill,she heard the sound of sizzling flesh and felt an unbearable pain shoot through her burnt screamed in agony and immediately released the grill.

The heat felt like a furnace against her heat seemed to eviscerate her energy and Lois slowly slumped to the floor in defeat.

She could feel smoke seeping through her lungs, slowly suffocating tried to keep crawling but could feel her consciousness seeping was becoming light headed and a male figure appeared in front of her she thought she was hallucinating,or maybe it was an angel._The angel of death?_Lois pondered as she collapsed.

The figure picked Lois up as if she weighed nothing.

Lois opened her eyes her throat was dry ,she managed to whisper,"Superman?"

"Shh,Lois.I've got 're safe now."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Clark paced the hospital tiles frantically. The smell of smoke soaked into his skin. He was angry, more than angry...he was wanted to kill Lex didn't often have homicidal thoughts but he had never experienced anger and hatred like this had put Lois in danger and he needed to began to imagine all sorts of scenarios that mostly involved tearing Lex Luthor limb from limb.

"CLARK!"

Clark snapped out of his thoughts and turned to find Lucy racing towards him,she had Durga in her stroller and she was a deadly shade of white.

"HAVE YOU HEARD ANYTHING? What happened?How is she!?" Lucy asked,panic resonating in her voice.

"I haven't heard anything yet."Clark said grabbed Lucy to him,and the two embraced for a good long were interrupted by Dr Lakhani's sudden presence at their side.

"Doctor?How is she?" Clark asked anxiously.

removed her stethoscope and placed it around her neck "She's going to be fine,Mr kent."

Lucy and Clark looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief.

Lucy bent down to kiss the baby,"You hear that Durg? ,your mama is going to be just fine."

Dr Lakhani smiled. "We ran some tests ,Lois suffered minor burns to her hands and smoke inhalation but she'll be just fine...and the baby is fine,as course we'd like Lois to stay overnight so that we can monitor her and the foetus,but all things aside..."

Lucy stood mouth wide open.

"I beg your pardon?" Clark stopped. He was sure he'd misheard. After all it had been an eventful day.

Dr Lakhani's pager beeped."The baby's fine but don't worry we'll take care of can go in and see her now."Dr Lakhani smiled and went to answer her pager call.

Clark suddenly felt like he'd been sucker punched by a fist full of Kryptonite.

Walking slowly into the hospital room Clark watched as a nurse helped Lois sit hair was in disarray,she had smudges of ash on her face and her two hands were heavily bandaged.

"Hey babe."Lucy said throwing her arms around her sister. "You had us scared for a minute."

The nurse adjusted Lois's pillows then left the room.

Lois smiled. "I'm fine,really." She suddenly noticed a silent Clark standing in the heart was glad he had stuck around. "Pass me Durga."

Lucy undid Durga's straps and carefully handed her over. Lois smothered the baby with kisses and laughed."Shouldn't you be getting packed for Brazil?"

"My sister almost died today,I'm not going anywhere!" Lucy said sitting down at the end of Lois's hospital bed.

"I'm fine,Luce."

"Besides I can't go anywhere now that I know you're pregnant!" Lucy admonished Lois loudly."You really should have said!"

Lois stopped smiling down at Durga as she felt her guts drop and her stomach churn. She looked past Lucy to Clark whose eyes were now burning a hole through her soul.

Lois was speechless. "Umm, yeah....this isn't the way I wanted everyone to find out..."

Clark clenched his teeth and dug his hands into his jeans further than it was possible for them to gave Lois a look of disgust then exited the room.

Lois and Lucy simultaneously jumped as they listened to the swing doors of the hospital crash open,as Clark exited the hospital in anger.

"Hold the baby!" Lois said thrusting Durga into Lucy's unsuspecting arms.

"What!?"

"I have to go after him."Lois jumped out of the bed "I have to go explain."

Lucy cradled Durga. "Are you crazy!?Clark can take care of need to stay in the hospital tonight."

"NO!"Lois grabbed her jacket and put it on. "I'm discharging myself."

-X-X-X-X-X-X

Lois bent down on her knees and shuffled the bit her lip and tried to imagine herself as a key "_Where would I be If I were a spare key?"._Lois checked under the plant pot near the ,.She looked like she was going to have to do it the old fashioned pulled a bobby pin from out of her hair and bent it until it was the perfect shape.

Lois Lane had jimmied a lock or two in her time. Before she knew it the door to Clarks apartment sprung didn't bother to put the light on,she could tell that Clark wasn't she closed the door and decided to wait for needed to tell him the truth,she needed to tell him everything.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Clark flew around trying to get rid of the incessant banging in his head. He was reeling from the news. Lois was pregnant! His Lois was pregnant not even a year after they'd lost their own baby.

When he had found Lois sprawled across the floor of that burning building he had gone into automatic was all he could do to stop himself from going insane. The thought of losing her to death drove him to distraction but this-

The thought that she could be pregnant by another man...more specifically Lex Luthor made him want to die.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lois sat in the couldn't see her watch but from her estimation she'd been waiting for close to two wondered if Clark would ever come up like a ball,Lois closed her tired eyes and began to drift off.

Suddenly a light breeze touched her face and Clarks balcony doors opened.

Lois opened her eyes and could make out a dark figure walking across the living room.

"What are you doing here?" Clark asked didn't need to put on the light,and although his back was turned to Lois he could smell her familiar scent,he could hear her heart beat racing. He walked into the bathroom, switched on the light and took off his shirt.

Lois stood slowly walked over to the warm glow of the bathroom and stood in the doorway watching Clark wash his face.

"What are you doing here Lois?" He still wouldn't look at her.

"I needed to talk to you." Lois said, silently willing him to turn around.

Clark reached for a towel and dried his face, but still wouldn't make eye contact "I have nothing to say to you." He edged past her and walked into the kitchen.

Lois sighed and followed him. "I almost died today."

"You might wanna take that up with your boyfriend." Clark rummaged around for some potatoes chips in the dark.

Lois sighed heavy hearted. " You can't spare a few minutes to talk? You loved me once..."

"You never loved me..." Clark cut in "...because if you did you would never have done what you would never have pushed me would never have tried your hardest to tear us apart!"

Lois bit her lip and swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Lois Lane doesn't do relationships. Isn't that what you told me the first time we met?" Clark asked sitting opposite Lois.

"That's not fair..." Lois cringed "... I was 21 when we met,a kid,a silly little kid..."

"Maybe I should have listened to you back then and saved myself a whole lot of heartache." Clark said coldly.

"Don't say that..."Lois pleaded

"...but I couldn't help myself because I wanted you.I wanted you so damn much..." Clark continued as he pulled out a seat at the breakfast bar and sat down.

Lois stared down at her bandaged shaking hands "And now..?"

Clark turned to face Lois,the shadow cast by the moon covering half his face "I've moved on."

Lois gasped as if she'd been physically would have left with her tail between her legs right then and there had it not been for the look Clark tried so desperately to conceal."You're a crap liar." Lois spat. "You Love me! You STILL love me."

"Well,that's all relative Lois." Clark poured himself a whisky."You wanted the wedding, the party, the '_look at Lois Lane, the kid's done good_' amongst all your friends. But nothing that came with it. None of the hard work. For better or worse, those were our vows and I watched you piss all over them like they meant nothing, like I meant nothing."

Lois took the verbal beating,in part she knew she deserved it but she wasn't prepared to take all the blame."What about you!?" Lois flipped on the light switch.

Clark turned to Lois with fury in his eyes. "What about me!?"

"If you loved me you would have fought for wouldn't have given up as easily as you did..."

Clark stopped. "I tried as hard as I could."

Now it was Clarks's turn to feel verbally wounded.

"OH PUH-LEASE!" Lois scoffed "You're Superman; I've seen you fight harder to rescue a cat from a tree!"

"What does it matter now Lois?" Clark said, so much pain in his voice Lois flinched "I've moved on..and you.."Clark choked on the words "...you're having a baby with the man you love."

Lois was out there began to flush over more lies between them.

"I hope you and Lex Luthor are very happy together." Clark downed the rest of his whisky in one gulp. "Well,provided he doesn't try and kill you again." He added sarcastically.

Lois stopped. She was confused; then it hit her, unconsciously she placed her hands protectively over her stomach "You think this is Lex's baby?"

Clark's sad eyes met Lois's questioningly.

Lois swallowed back the tears she been holding in and remembered what one of the women she had interviewed had said _It's not over til its over._

"I haven't been with anybody else....nobody, not since that night that you and I made love for the last time." Lois stepped forward.

Clark went visibly pale.

"I'm carrying your baby,Clark."Lois bit her lip. "Yours and mine."

Clark held on to the wooden counter top to steady hadn't been prepared for watched nervously ,unsure of what to wanted to go to him,but remained frozen on her spot.

A whole minute passed before Clark spoke,"I actually hoped it was Lex Luthor's baby."

Lois gasped "How can you say that?" tears began to stream down her turned on her heals and headed for the front door.

In a gust of wind Lois felt Clark grab her before she could make it to the screamed like an alley cat "GET OFF OF ME!",she began banging and clawing at Clark hoping that he would release her.

"I didn't mean it like that Lo-." Clark grabbed her to him,and Lois had no option but to calm down. "I didn't mean it like that." Clark gently tilted Lois's head upwards towards his own. "I love you so much.I always have and I always will."He gently wiped her tears away.

"Then why would you say that?!" Lois tension slowly releasing itself as she settled into his beautifully warm embrace.

"Because I almost lost you last time."His big beautiful blue eyes "Let me correct myself, I DID lose you."

Lois's heart broke right reached up and gently stroked Clark's face. "You won't lose me again.I promise."

Clark shook his head "How can you promise that?"

"Because I want to be honest with you." Lois took his hand and led him to the couch "I want to tell you everything...." she took a deep breath.

Clark could sense the tide about to change, so gently rubbed her back.

"When I was 14 I got pregnant..."

**TBC**

**Ps Thanks ErinN for ****always**** BUMPing 're awesome. **


	33. Chapter 33

**XYK **

**Chapter 34- "WAY BACK WHEN"**

Clark could tell from the burden in her eyes that this was a secret that had been weighing her down for some time now. Lois wrapped herself up in a blanket that Martha had knitted.

"I wasn't a pretty child..."Lois started.

"I find that hard to believe."

Lois's eyes met Clarks. She gave him a small smile, but braced herself and continued her story "By the time I hit puberty, how I looked had pretty much become my obsession. I went through the baby fat stage, the brace stage, the acne stage and the perpetually flat chested stage. I had very little self esteem...If you can imagine it."

Clark nodded slowly, his whole concentration on her.

"..It didn't help that we moved around a lot, from army base to army base, so as you can imagine I didn't have very many friends. And you know my dad, kind but old school strict; I wasn't allowed to hang about the army bases like all the other military brats..." Lois hesitated, looked down and stared at her shaking hands. Clark gently took one of her bandaged shaking hands in his and began to slowly kiss each one of her fingers one by one.

Lois's heart skipped a beat. But she continued,"...The General had strict instructions :No makeup, no pierced ears and certainly no boys. Not that I knew any, only the ones we saw at Mass on Sundays, and even then I never spoke to any of them. So, by the time I hit 14 I was chubby, lonely and painfully shy. Completely convinced that I'd end up alone, fat and with a million cats..."

Clark was attentive.

"...Anyway, one day at the bases school which was really just three makeshift stucco building,a new kid showed up, his name was Wes..."Lois stopped at the name and practically spat it out "...Wes Christian Keenan."

"He had just turned 16 and his dad had been transferred from Texas, but I was assigned to be his study buddy because of the shortage of pupils. This was way back when I used to be a straight A student..."

"Straight A's?" Clark asked ,a small smirk on his full lips.

"Yes. Once upon a time I got straight A's",Lois smiled and playfully swatted at Clark "... I mean it's not like I had anything to do besides study and listen to Michael Jackson and Prince cassette tapes."Lois gave a small chuckle. "As far as sixteen year old boys go, he was very good looking. All the girls thought so. He had that Blonde haired, blue eyed all American thing going on, and to top it off he was an athlete, plus he was catholic and incredibly well mannered. My mom and his mom, Glory...used to socialise at the Bingo hall and quilt together. My parents though he was an alright kid..." Lois stopped talking and took a deep breath.

"Is it your hands?"Clark asked "Let me get you some painkillers." He began to stand up.

"No...I'm fine."Lois gently tugged on Clark forcing him to remain seated"...So whilst my mom was downstairs watching Jeopardy or one of her soaps, we were in my bedroom doing everything but homework. I was incredibly shy and compliant back then, it really didn't take him long to figure out that I was a soft touch."

Lois looked down, suddenly feeling exposed. Clark gently tucked her hair away behind her ear and tilted her chin, forcing her to maintain eye contact.

"He didn't pounce on me, wait...I don't even think he tried hard to seduce me. We just talked for hours about anything and watched _the A-Team_ and _Saved by the bell_ together. I was just so relieved for the companionship and that someone could actually see past my baby fat. When things took a sexual turn it just seemed so natural, It never occurred to me to tell him to back off..."Lois stopped talking and looked at Clark to gage his reaction, his face remained neutral but he lightly squeezed her hand to let her know he wanted her to continue talking.

"Even though I had such low self esteem and was painfully shy, I sort of blossomed and came out of my shell under all his affection. I was high with happiness, completely infatuated and everybody noticed the difference but I couldn't tell anybody...it was our special secret."Lois stopped talking and blinked away tears before they had a chance to fall. Clark knew instinctively that they were only touching the tip of the iceberg.

"I was almost four and a half months pregnant before I realised what was wrong with 's a miracle that nobody else noticed ." Lois said quickly. Only this time she didn't look at Clark. She reclaimed her hand from his clutch and brought her knees up towards her chest. "In my childish naivety I was ecstatic; I thought it would mean marriage and being with Wes forever. I told him immediately after I'd rode a bus an hour and a half to the nearest town and bought a pregnancy test that confirmed what I already knew. If he was freaked out he didn't show it, he just told me to keep it hush until he figured out what to do..."

Lois coughed to clear her throat,"Then suddenly I turned up at School one day only to find out that, Wes 's father had been transferred to Germany immediately and that he was at home packing. So I got on my bike and pedalled over there as quickly as I could. I knocked on his door and he ushered me around the back. He promised me he would come back for me as soon as he told his parents, as soon as they were settled in Germany and I believed him."Lois bit her lip "...I wrote him every day for 3 months and each time my letters were sent back to me, unopened with a big fat 'return to sender' stamp on them."

Lois unfolded her limbs and stood up. She ran he fingers through her hair and leant against the bookcase. "I had no choice but to tell my parents. Baggy clothes just couldn't hide my bump anymore. They were hysterical; disappointment doesn't even begin to cover the look on my mother's face. The General called me a Whore, which surprisingly didn't hurt. I guess I was just glad he wasn't going to kill me like I had assumed he would..."Lois tried to laugh at the memory but all she could manage was the hollow sound of someone still in pain.

Clark stood up and went to her. "Don't." Lois said, side stepping his embrace "...Just let me get this all out before I completely break down. Please."

Clark nodded. He understood but it didn't stop him from wanting to hold her. Lois went to the liquor cabinet and pulled out one glass and a bottle of whisky. She poured a glass and handed it to him.

"'ll probably need was I?"Lois asked "Oh yeah...so, the General probably would have killed me had he and my mother not been dealing with issues of their own. Unbeknownst to me, my mother had been diagnosed with lung cancer a few days before.."

"...and besides, It was too late for an abortion. Not that my parents would have let me have one anyway. They did devise a plan though, to send me to Edge City to go live with Uncle Gabe, Aunt Moira and Chloe until the baby was born .This was maybe a year or two before Aunt Moira had her nervous breakdown, just before they moved to Smallville."

Clark remembered Chloe telling hi m about parts of her childhood in Edge City.

"...Aunt Moira had all these pills that they had put her on over the years, tranquilizers and antidepressants." Lois turned to Clark "I've always thought depression and anxiety ran in our family. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I took them all. Over 300 pills and chased them down with half a bottle of Rum."

"You tried to kill yourself." Clark stated sadly.

Lois started to cry, Uncontrollably "I meant it to work. I hoped it would be Painless and quick."

"Why didn't you ever tell me this?"He whispered softly, as he gently rubbed circles into her back. "God honey! Why didn't you trust me enough to tell me?"

Lois continued. "I took the pills once everyone was asleep, safe in the knowledge that I'd be dead by the time they woke up." Lois wiped her tears and let Clark envelope her in a huge crushing hug, His warmth was so soothing and for the life of her, she couldn't remember why she'd never told him. "If it wasn't for the onset of the miscarriage I probably would have died that night, but the pain was so unbearable, I had to wake Chloe up. She was only 11 years old, poor thing."

Suddenly it all made sense. Why Lois had acted the way she had, why she had become depressed, alcoholic and distant. Their own miscarriage had triggered all those awful memories, or so Clark thought.

"The stress was too much for my mom, she began to deteriorate rapidly after that."Lois hugged Clark back "Suicide and murder are both mortal sins and my mother couldn't bear the thought of me going to hell, but as far as I was concerned I was already living in hell. I actually woke up in the hospital with a priest praying over me!"

"I'm so sorry that you lost your baby, you don't need to say anymore, I totally understand..." Clarks head was whirling from all the things he hadn't known about Lois.

"You don't understand Clark.." Lois pulled away from Clark and looked him in the eyes. "..my baby survived."

Clark tried to hide his shock.

Lois continued "...I named her Lucy."

**TBC.**

**NB: Reviews, comments and feedback are very much appreciated. **


	34. Chapter 34

**XYK **

**Chapter 35- "1988"**

Despite Lois's best efforts- Lucille Roxanne Lane had entered the world on a humid night in the summer of 1988; she had been small, scared but incredibly strong. And now she was a breathtakingly gorgeous 21 year old livi**n**g and modelling all over the world.

"She doesn't know, does she?" Clark took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"No."

"Are you ever gonna tell her?"

"No."

"Don't you think she has a right to know?"

"No."

"No?" Asked Clark incredulously.

"Don't Judge me Clark!"

"I'm not judging you Lois."

"She is Samuel and Roxanne Lane's daughter, not mine."

"And you're ok with that?"

"I've had to be!" Lois snapped.

Lois immediately felt bad for snapping at Clark but let a silence settle over them. Lois pulled her knees up towards her chest, she suddenly felt exposed, naked and vulnerable. She had never said any of this to anybody, not even Chloe. Instead the whole family had buried the truth and built a fortress over it. "You don't understand Clark."

Clark turned to Lois "Then explain it to me."

"I was a kid. I didn't know the first thing about raising a baby. My parents wanted me to continue being a kid, so they told everyone my mother was pregnant and when Lucy was born I handed her over to them."

"That must have been hard." Clark said quietly.

Lois just shrugged and looked down at the ground. "It's amazing what you can get used to. The more you tell a lie, the more you start to believe it."

"So you told everyone that Lucy was your sister?"

"Clark..."Lois collected her thoughts "...when my parents found out I was pregnant, it almost killed my mother, quicker than any cancer could have done, but when she held Lucy in her arms for the first time it was like, like.."Lois searched for the right words. "...Like she had a reason to fight. They said my mother had a few months to live and because of Lucy she fought that cancer for four years."

Clark nodded.

"And when my mom finally couldn't fight anymore, Lucy gave The General purpose, a reason to shave, go to work, not drown himself in bottles of whisky. That's why they've always had such a special bond; I'd never take that away from them."

"But what about you?" Clark reached for Lois,who promptly sprang up as if she'd been scolded.

"What about me!?"she ran her bandaged hand through her hair "I'm fine Clark!"

"No you're haven't been 'fine' for 21 years."Clark firmly stated.

Lois clenched her teeth "So what do you suggest I do about it,huh? Tell Lucy the truth?Tell her that her whole existence is a lie?"

"If it helps you to heal." Clark leant forward.

Lois bit her lip and shook her head vehemently "NO!....I won't do 'll never forgive me.I know my sister...I mean my....I know ,No I won't tell her."Lois covered her face with her hands and started to sob.

Clark got up from the couch and went to flinched at the first touch of his embrace,she had half expected him to shake some sense into he grabbed hold of her body so tight that nearly all the air was squeezed out of her lungs.

"You are not"Lois heard him whisper into her ear " I repeat,_Not_ going to get away from me this time."

Wisely Lois didn't even attempt didn't want in Clark's arms was where she it occurred to Lois that by holding her so tightly Clark was in a way protecting her from himself,redirecting all the pain and frustration he had felt in the last couple of months,into this possessive,deliciously numbing a good long while they stood rigidly both searching for inner calm,trying to process the evenings events.

Clark could feel Lois' tears begin to subside,her body seemed to give way and meld into his own._Don't kiss her,just don't kiss her_,he told first,sugar ,he slowly began to gently wipe her tear stains away. "Lois Lane you amaze me." He stroked her cheek and removed the hair obscuring her eyes, "You are the bravest,strongest woman I know and I love you."

Lois met his eyes with her own amazed ones.

"What do you need right now?Absolutely anything...just say the word." Clark whispered adoringly down at the woman he loved.

"You."Lois slowly leant into him,and in a voice so wanton and fragile,she said "I need you right now.."

With that, Clark lost all resolve. He kissed her. There was no mistaking the message in their kiss. It was passionate yet gentle, angry but forgiving, extracting pain the deeper it went, leaving behind the delicious sensation of hope and a possible future.

A thunderous knock on the door forced them to spring apart. Clark looked down at Lois regretfully, grabbed his glasses and went to answer the door.

"This is so not cool." Lucy tutted as she entered the threshold of the apartment. She parked Durga's stroller next to the coat rack "Is my sister here?"

Clark nodded and tilted his head to indicate the living room. Clark let Lucy pass him but didn't follow, instead he leaned against the hallway wall, closed his eyes and breathed hard and deep. Once he opened his eyes he looked down at a sleeping Durga, who was wrapped up -nice and warm in her stroller. He smiled.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Luce,go to Brazil!" Lois said. "I don't want you turning down work for me."

"Are you sure?" Lucy held Lois's hand "Cos' I can stay."

"No,Luce.I'm fine really." Lois smiled "Clark'll look after me."

Lucy beamed. "So you kids are finally getting your act together,huh?"

Lois smiled bashfully.

" plane leaves in two hours.I should go pack." Lucy jumped up.

Clark entered the living room just in time to see the two women hugging.

"I can come with you to the airport...just let me get myself together." Lois said straightening out her clothes.

"No,Lois." Lucy laughed "You've been through a lot tonight. I'm a big girl now, I can see myself to the airport."

"Ok- but please be careful and phone me as soon as you get to Brazil,and.."

"Lois! Would you chill, you're not my mother." Lucy laughed.

Lois paused and looked over at Clark who also seemed to pause . "_No_." Lois took a deep breath, "But I'm your big sister who won't see you again until Christmas."

"I love you Lo." Lucy embraced Lois. Then she turned to Clark, "Look after my girls."

Clark mustered a smile "I will."

Once Lucy had smothered Lois,Durga and Clark with kisses , bid them all goodbye and left, Lois and Clark stood looking at each other both so afraid of what might happen next.

Clark surmised that words would be ridiculous after tonight's events, too much talking and not enough action. So he walked over to Lois and took her by the hand. Silently he led her to the bedroom. He made it easier for her by not saying anything more. He simply undressed her slowly, gently removing her mental armour along with all her clothes. Then he gently laid her on the bed and prepared to join her there.

From her position on the bed Lois watched Clark undress and get just as naked as she. Unashamedly she marvelled at his absolute beauty, and wondered how she could have given him up. Suddenly the baby sprung to her mind.

"Durga? Lois asked, sitting up.

Clark smiled "She's fast asleep. She's fine. Relax."

Clark lay down next to Lois and pulled her close. He wanted to make love to her, but not now, not like this. Instead he cradled her and rubbed her back in rhythmic circles. Lois silently laid her head against Clarks chest and fell asleep to the beating of Clarks heart.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Lois came round to the smell of frying bacon and the sound of morning radio. Lois stretched out and smiled. Last night had been the first night in ages that she had been able to sleep without torment, fear or regret. She felt so unburdened and happy. Despite it being Fall,morning sun sifted through the bedroom blinds. Lois rolled over into the pillow and inhaled Clarks scent,then sat up and reached for his robe to cover up her nakedness. Lois wrapped it around herself,then got up to find her baby and her man.

A shirtless Clark was in the kitchen rocking a burbling Durga in one arm and sipping from a mug of coffee with his other hand. His eyes were fixed intently on a small stack of papers balanced against a jar in front of him so that he could read whilst multitasking.

"Good morning." Lois said, as she came up behind Clark and wrapped her arms around his torso. She laid a few butterfly kisses on his back. "What is that?" she asked ,trying to peek at the papers that had clearly stolen all of his attention.

Clark smiled and turned around.

"It's our decree absolute. "He handed Lois the baby and picked up the letter "As of today, we're officially divorced."

P.T.O.


	35. Chapter 35

**XYK**

**Chapter 35- "****On Loud speaker****."**

Lois put Durga down into her stroller seat and grabbed the papers from Clark and stared at them in horror. Her mouth agape with shock as she skim read the document that detailed their divorce.

Looking up she caught a glimpse of Clark, "You're smiling. Why are you smiling?"

"I'm smiling because this is just so typically us." He took a sip of coffee "Don'tcha think?"

Lois grimaced "I'm glad you're taking it all in your stride."

Catching his _ex_-wife's sarcasm but choosing to ignore it, Clark asked"What do you want for breakfast?"

He turned and reached for a frying pan. "I can make you some eggs and bacon or.."

When he didn't get a response Clark turned back around only to find Lois Lane on bended knee.

"Will you marry me, Clark Kent?" Lois said a smile on her face.

Clark regarded Lois for a full moment. Then another moment, and then another. He was speechless. Words evaded him completely. When an answer didn't come Lois began to get worried. "Say something, say anything."

Clark extended his hand to help Lois up off of the ground but she managed to dodge the gesture"You haven't answered my question."Lois stated behind gritted teeth.

"No." Said Clark quietly.

Lois felt like she'd just been slapped in the licked her now dry lips and batted away fresh forming tears,and feeling impossibly silly,she made her embarrassed eyes meet Clarks."You're punishing me,aren't you?"

"Of course not, Lois." Clark reached for Lois again but she batted his arm away stood up and dusted her knees off.

"Then why don't you want to marry me?It's not like we haven't s done it before."

"And that didn't work out so well..."

"A-HA!" Lois yelled as if she'd just worked out a hard math problem "So you are trying to punish me. Just admit it!"

"Lois,I love you and you love me, so why can't that be enough for now?" said Clark appalled that Lois could think he'd try to score a point.

Lois shook her head,and began backing out of the kitchen "I should go..."

"Lois, I don't want you to go."Clark tried reaching for Lois but she dodged the slight of his hand. "Let's talk about this..."

"No!" Lois shook her head vehemently "Clark. You've made your feelings really clear on this one...Durga and I should leave, we've taken up enough of your time."

"Don't be like that Lois. Not after last night."

Before Lois could respond, the phone began to ring. Both Lois and Clark's eyes darted to the ringing phone and immediately back to each other in a silent standoff.

As the ringing phone began to irritate, Lois sighed resignedly. "Pick up your phone Clark."

Clark reached for his phone.

"Good Morning Clark!" said a familiar voice "I'm not waking you up am I? I always get the time difference wrong."

"No Chlo,I'm up."Clark kept his eyes on Lois, silently begging her not to move. "How are you?"

Lois rolled her eyes and picked Durga up and left the kitchen.

"Good, good." Chloe replied, excitement in her voice.

Clark could hear Lois rummaging round, poking his head around the door he saw her putting on her shoes and assembling her and Durga's belongings. "Chlo,I'm kind of busy right now, I'll phone you back..."

"This will only take a moment..Put me on Loud speaker!" cried an excited Chloe from the end of the line.

"Why?"Clark asked puzzled.

"I want you to get the full effect."

"Ok,Chlo."Clark rubbed his cranium.

"Are you sitting down?" Squealed an excited Chloe.

"No Chloe."

"OK....whatever..."said Chloe taking a dramatic pause "...I'm engaged to be married!"

Lois who had been bent over in the middle of putting on her shoes, stopped shook her head and tutted.

The sound of Chloe's excited voice faded into the background as Clark watched Lois get up, gently put Durga in her stroller and head for the door. She didn't look back at Clark.

"Clark,are you there...? Are you there...?" Chloe voice emanated from the phone.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Ok, it's very easy. You just put the needle in like so.." The middle aged nurse showed Lois how to administer her meds "...then you check that the drip is turned this way, like this...."She looked down at Lois to make sure she was watching. Once the nurse was satisfied she continued. "Then, you press this button, and you're good to go. Easy peasy, huh?"

"Yep."Lois feigned a smile .

"I'll come check on you in an hour."The nurse said.

"Thanks."Lois watched the Nurse leave the room then exhaled, she picked up the first magazine she could get her hands on. It was a copy of 'LANE' magazine. Holding the shiny pieces of paper in her hand, Lois began to tremble. She loved the magazine, was proud of her vision and everything she had accomplished but it was a dream with an end in sight. She knew the countdown had begun.

She cleared her mind and leant back in the comfortable armchair and thought of Durga in the hospital nursery, probably in heaven chewing on an orange crayon.

Lois closed her eyes ,"Xymethaline- yttrium-Krypton difluoride. Xymethaline- yttrium-Krypton difluoride. Xymethaline- yttrium-Krypton difluoride. Xymethaline- yttrium-Krypton difluoride. Xymethaline- yttrium-Krypton difluoride. Xymethaline- yttrium-Krypton difluoride...."she said to herself until the words lost all meaning.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

**Washington DC**

Pete took a sip of coffee and studied the figures in front of him. His papers spread out in front of him just how he like them. Now he was ready to do some strategising .Suddenly his office door opened and a gust of wind sent every piece of paper swirling around the office.

Completely unsurprised by the sight that stood in front of him, Pete picked up his office phone.

"Nancy, cancel my 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock and 4:3o." He said. From the expression on Clark's face, Pete could tell that it was going to be one of those afternoons.

Within 30 minutes the best friends had found themselves seated in a back booth of a Washington DC sports bar.

"That's some heavy stuff."Pete said taking a sip of beer.

Clark agreed "I know. She's been carrying that around all those years."

"Why didn't you ask her to marry you again? It's what you've wanted since the moment you split."

Clark shrugged "I don't know...It just seemed too heavy...too soon."

"You're scared huh?"

"I'm not scared." Clark grabbed some nuts from a bowl and tossed them into his mouth.

"Not even a little bit." Pete asked.

" even a little bit."

Pete laughed. "You're scared."

"OK."Clark smiled "I wouldn't use the word 'scared'....reticent maybe. I can't go through that again; I can't have her and then lose her again. I mean we've been through a lot this year. She's still so fragile. Lois likes to pretend she's this brave impenetrable warrior woman but she's not...she's human."

Pete nodded. "I hear you. But you love her, and she loves you and you're in this thing together now. It'll take time, effort and maybe even some counselling but maybe what Lois needs is reassurance that despite what she's been through, you'll always be there."

Clark exhaled and studied Pete for a long hard moment."When the hell did you get so wise?"

Pete laughed "I surprise myself sometimes."

Just then Clark's cell phone began to beep, signifying a text message. It was Lois.

"_Clark,I need you. How soon can you get here?"_

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"I've been trying your cell phone for hours." Clark said as he entered Lois' apartment.

"I had a hospital appointment."

Clark studied Lois' face "You look pale."

"I'm fine Clark." Lois said .

Clark gently kissed her on the forehead and she didn't move away or scowl. Clark took that to be a good sign. It seemed that she wasn't bearing a grudge for the morning. He smiled as he got down on bended knee,he rummaged through his pocket to find Lois' ring.

"Marry me, Lois Lane. Make me the happiest man in the Galaxy."

"No." Lois said casually as she turned on her heels and walked into her bedroom.

**TBC.**


	36. Chapter 36

**XYK**

**Chapter 36**- "The other man."

"I can't marry you now. You were right."Lois said with a nonchalant shrug. She turned back to her vanity mirror and primped and fluffed her hair. "...and besides, that's not why I called you over."

Clark stood slightly confused. _Wasn't this what she wanted?_ A few short hours ago she had read him the riot act for not wanting to walk down the aisle again, yet here she was, fixing her hair and humming a soft jazz standard to herself as if nothing had happened._Pregnancy hormones perhaps?_

"So you're not mad at me anymore? You see why we shouldn't get married just yet?"Clark asked, as he leant against Lois' door frame.

"Yeah, yeah, sure whatever." Lois said standing up; she turned around so her back was facing him, "zip me up."

Clark followed Lois' command. But not before he had allowed himself to examine here attire. She looked amazing. She wore a silver cocktail dress, that hugged her in all the right places."I thought we could talk."

"I can't."Lois turned around to face Clark.

"Why?"

"I have a date." Lois ran to her wardrobe and picked up two pairs of heels.

Clark was rendered confused once more "A date?"

"Yes Clark, a date." Lois said appraising herself in the mirror. "And I was hoping you could babysit Durga tonight."

Clark was stunned, words momentarily escaped him.

Lois didn't seem to notice; instead she stood pondering her fashion choices. "Purple or silver?", she asked.

"What?" Clark asked, still in a slight state of shock.

Lois shook her head "Purple or silver, isn't that hard.", she waved the shoes in front of his face. When an answer wasn't forthcoming Lois sighed melodramatically, but smiled good naturedly and said," This is the last time I ask for your fashion advice."

Clark clenched his jaw "What do you mean you're going on a date."

Lois sat down on the side of her bed and began to slip on the purple pumps "...oh, yeah...Lex phoned me this afternoon and asked if I'd like..."

"Lex Luthor!" Clark interrupted.

The tone in Clark's voice made Lois freeze; she looked up at Clark confused.

"You're going out with Lex tonight? How could you Lois!?Last night meant nothing, huh?I don't agree to marry you and you immediately run over to a the cretin who tried to kill you last night!?" Clark began to turn red with anger "typical Lois Lane."

Lois let Clark continue in his tirade for a few more seconds. Once she was certain that he was done, she stood up slowly and walked over to where Clark stood."If you weren't so damn sexy when you're mad I'd totally hurt you for that comment."Lois said with a smirk. She gently weaved her arms around Clark's neck and tilted his head into a delicate kiss. "I love you."She whispered against his lips.

Just like that Clark's anger began to dissipate. Now he was just confused. "I don't understand."

Lois smiled "Well allow me to explain Mr Kent...This afternoon Lex phoned me, he was really excited, I asked him why and he said he had just made a purchase on some Land that had come up really cheap but was worth a lot. Not just any land...Land that had been decimated by fire, Land in Bludhaven, Edge city, Metropolis...Land that had once held 'nothing of importance'."Lois spat out the last sentence, bile filled her throat as she quoted Lex's words. She looked up at Clark, her eyes beginning to water. "I should have listened to you."

Clark reached for Lois and pulled her into a tender embrace "You couldn't have know."

Lois pulled away, she was growing angry "You should have heard him going on and on about his plans for Luxury hotels, casinos and gentrified apartment complex's...So I told him I'd been caught up in one of the fires, and he paused and asked me if I was alright,I said yes...and that's when the plan came to me."

Clark held Lois's gaze "What Plan?"

"I'm going to bring Lex Luthor down."Lois said with a steely determination that would have frightened a lesser man.

"And how are you going to do that?"Clark asked, not at all convinced.

"He wants me."Lois simply shrugged.

Clark could feel a resurgence of anger "So,you're just gonna serve yourself up on a platter!?"

Lois put her hand on her hips defiantly,"NO...But I'm not above using me charms to get past his defences. I'll simply let him think that I'm interested whilst I gather enough information and evidence."

"It's dangerous!"Clark yelled. "Lex is dangerous."

"I'll be fine."

"You're pregnant with my child!"

Lois bit her lip. He'd gotten her. She didn't have a smart comeback for that.

Suddenly a knock came from the front door. Both Lois and Clark paused for a second. Using his x-ray vision Clark looked through the walls and saw a chauffeur standing at Lois' door. "It's Lex's driver."

The Knock came again. Lois gave Clark an apologetic look. She walked over to the door where,just as Clark had said, Lex's driver was waiting. "I'll be down in 5 minutes." She said before closing the door again.

Clark sighed Labouredly, "Would it make a difference If I said I don't want you to go?"

"No."Lois said as quick as a whip.

Clark knew better then to try and stop Hurricane Lois. Once she had an idea in her head there was no way of stopping her from seeing it to fruition.

Lois checked herself in the mirror one last time and collected her purse. "Durga's asleep. She won't wake up for a couple of hours. There are bottles in the fridge. Help yourself, you know where everything is."

Clark said nothing, he refused to meet Lois's gaze.

"Don't be like that Clark..."Lois said, gently stroking his face.

"I just don't want you to get hurt, "Clark's sad eyes finally met Lois's. "...and, I just can't stand the thought of him touching you."

Lois could feel her heartbreak a little. "I'll play it safe and I promise you, I won't let him touch me."She grabbed Clark's arms and wrapped them around her body "I belong to you."

Clark could only manage a small smile. Lois glanced at the Clock on the wall "Don't wait up." Lois planted an impromptu kiss on Clark's lips then walked out of the door.

Alone in Lois's quiet apartment hallway Clark was left with only his thoughts and an awful sense of foreboding.

TBC.


End file.
